‘The goals will come’: Kenwyne Jones vows to fire Al Jazira up the AGL table

DUBAI // Kenwyne Jones is confident Al Jazira have the talent to turn around their season having seen enough positives during his debut on Friday.

The Cardiff City striker joined the club last week on loan until the end of the campaign and has been tasked with scoring the goals to lift Jazira from their current position of 10th in the Arabian Gulf League.

Jones did not find the net in his first match although he played a key role in the 2-2 draw at Al Wasl, helping create his new side’s second goal. The Abu Dhabi club, who also had coach Henk ten Cate in the dugout for the first time, twice took the lead despite being largely outplayed by their fourth-placed hosts, but showed enough fight to suggest they can soon climb the table.

Jones agrees, with the Trinidad and Tobago captain sure Jazira possess enough ability to improve upon what has been a hugely disappointing season.

Transfer talk: Thiago Neves determined to prove himself at Al Jazira despite Saudi interest

“I see enough room for progress, I don’t see any problem for this team,” he said. “They can progress easily. We just need to tighten up a few things and we’ll be fine.

“It’s like anywhere in the world. You have moments where you lose a bit of concentration and don’t do things to stay on top of the game. But it’s OK — I believe 100 per cent in this team, we have a lot of talent.”

Jones cited the need for Jazira to be stronger in defence, with the capital club conceding from two set pieces against Wasl. They have been breached 29 times in 14 league matches this campaign — a problem that extends back to last season even though Jazira eventually finished runners-up to Al Ain.

That places more emphasis on Jones to excel up front. The former Premier League forward will carry much of the goalscoring brunt, but has Ali Mabkhout, fellow new signing Angel Lafita and either Thiago Neves or Jefferson Farfan in support.

Jazira are willing to listen to offers for Neves, while Farfan is recovering from an ankle injury. Jones, though, is convinced he can repay the faith the club have shown in him.

“I hope so, that’d be nice,” he said. “Wasl was my first time getting used to the team, the players and who we’re playing against. I feel quite positive and I’m hopeful in the next 12 to 13 games the goals will come.”

Jazira now have almost two weeks until their next match, a time in which Jones says he will use to smooth the transition to UAE football.

“It’s beautiful,” he said. “It’s important for me and the team. We have one or two injuries coming back now so the team will get stronger over the next two weeks and then we can push forward again.”

Blog Resource: http://www.thenational.ae/sport/arabian-gulf-league/the-goals-will-come-kenwyne-jones-vows-to-fire-al-jazira-up-the-agl-table

Federer and Raonic to meet in Brisbane final, Kyrgios leads Hopman Cup triumph

Roger Federer reached his third successive Brisbane International final Saturday when he crushed Dominic Thiem in a lopsided semi-final.

Federer took just 60 minutes to down the eighth-seeded Austrian 6-1, 6-4 and said afterwards it was the best he had played all week.

“I’m getting used to conditions, which is usually the case after a couple of matches,” he said.

“You understand the speeds more and you’re more comfortable. Plus I’m definitely also feeling a bit better now.

“I was very pleased with how I played. I think it was the best match of the week so far, or most consistent maybe.”

The first set lasted just 22 minutes as a shell-shocked Thiem struggled to match the 17-time Grand Slam champion on Pat Rafter Arena.

Thiem, 22, settled into the match in the second set and took the fight to his 34-year-old opponent, but a lapse in the seventh game saw him drop his serve and Federer easily held on to book a place in the final.

Ahmed Rizvi: If Novak Djokovic should stumble, Roger Federer will be waiting to pounce

Federer lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the 2014 title-decider and beat Canadian Milos Raonic to win the title last year.

Sunday’s final will be a rematch of 2015 after the huge-serving Raonic edged local hero Bernard Tomic in two close sets.

“I played some tough matches (against him) in the last 16 months or so,” Federer said of Raonic.

“I thought he played really well against me here and Indian Wells last year.

“So he’s been looking good. Clearly with a serve like that things are always complicated.”

The big-serving Raonic hit 13 aces on his way to a 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5) win in one hour, 47 minutes. Tomic had his chances against Raonic, and had four break points in the fifth game of the first set.

But Raonic served his way out of danger and neither man was troubled on his own serve thereafter.

With such a huge serve Raonic was always favoured in the tie-breaks and he opened a 5-1 lead on both occasions. Tomic fought back to 5-5 twice but in the end Raonic closed out the match with a lunging backhand volley.

Raonic pushed Federer in three close sets in 2015 and although he said he was playing better now than 12 months ago, he conceded facing the Swiss great was always difficult.

“He can do a lot of things differently,” Raonic said. “You know what you want to do against him and what you should do (but) he can just make this part difficult for you.

“Each time he can come out playing in different ways and he’s able to do a lot of different things.

“But what I need to do is very clear for myself. So that’s what I’m going to strive for and try to play it on my terms as much as possible, rather than his.”

Azarenka marches on

Victoria Azarenka displayed the kind of form that could lead her to a hat-trick of Australian Open titles later this month by brushing aside German fourth seed Angelique Kerber 6-3 6-1 in the Brisbane International final on Saturday.

The former world No 1 has been plagued by injury over the last two years but the world No 22 showed little sign of rust this week on her way to a second Brisbane crown.

The Belarusian dropped only 17 games over five matches during the tournament and claimed her first title since the Cincinnati Masters in August 2013.

Azarenka, 26, won her maiden Brisbane title in 2009, and took control of the match against world No 10 Kerber after an early trade of breaks in the first set and then peppered the court with her powerful groundstrokes.

Article Resource : http://www.thenational.ae/sport/tennis/federer-and-raonic-to-meet-in-brisbane-final-kyrgios-leads-hopman-cup-triumph

Here is what is in store in the coming week

Ahead of a busy week of sport across the globe, Graham Caygill highlights five of the leading events going on over the coming seven days.

1. NFL: Wild card play-offs, today and tomorrow, OSN Sports

 Business picks up in the NFL as the play-offs begin this weekend. Today’s action sees the Houston Texans host the Kansas City Chiefs followed by the Cincinnati Bengals hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tomorrow’s first game has the Minnesota Vikings go up against the Seattle Seahawks, who are bidding for a second Super Bowl victory in three years and a third successive appearance in the event. The Green Bay Packers complete the weekend’s busy schedule as they travel to the Washington Redskins.

2. Cricket: Australia v India, first ODI, 7.20am, Tuesday, OSN Sport 

The current world champions in the 50-over form of the game go up against the previous winners in what should be an entertaining five-match series, with the action beginning in Perth on Tuesday. Steve Smith leads Australia into action fresh from guiding them to a 2-0 Test series victory over the West Indies, and he will be hoping for a repeat of the last time they met in an ODI, which was the World Cup semi-final in March last year, when his 105 helped his side win by 95 runs.

3. Premier League: Liverpool v Arsenal, midnight, Wednesday, beIN Sports 

Leaders Arsenal travel to Anfield with a two-point lead at the top of the table, but while Liverpool have failed to find much in the way of consistency this season, they will still be a dangerous prospect for the London side. Jurgen Klopp’s men have played some of their best stuff against the bigger named teams in the division. The 4-1 win at Manchester City in November was one of the performances of the season and Arsene Wenger would do well to be way of the Merseyside club.

4. Cricket: South Africa v England, third Test, 12.30pm, Thursday, OSN Sport 

The teams head to Johannesburg with England still having the advantage at 1-0 in the four-match series. If Alastair Cook’s men can win at the Wanderers Stadium for the first time since 2005 they will clinch the series. The pressure is on the Proteas, who have AB de Villiers taking over as captain after Hashim Amla stepped down from the role following the drawn second Test in Cape Town last week.

5. Motorsport: Dubai 24 Hours, Thursday to Saturday 

The 11th staging of the annual endurance race takes place at the Dubai Autodrome next weekend. The teams will begin arriving in the UAE early in the week for the event, which not only tests driver speed, but the ability of their car to last for 24 hours of racing. Last year’s event was won by the Black Falcon team of Abdulaziz Al Faisal, Hubert Haupt, Yelmer Burrman and Oliver Webb, and Faisal, Haupt and Buurman are back again, this time with Bernd Schneider and Michal Broniszewski. Qualifying is on Thursday, with the race beginning at 2pm on Friday and finishing at the same time on Saturday.

Blog Source: http://www.thenational.ae/sport/here-is-what-is-in-store-in-the-coming-week

Sebastian Tagliabue twice on target for Al Wahda in Arabian Gulf League win over Dibba

ABU DHABI // Al Wahda got their New Year and second half of the Arabian Gulf League off to a positive start on Thursday evening.

Sebastian Tagliabue was on target either side of half time while Jorge Valdivia added a third in between as Wahda overcame an own goal from Sultan Al Ghafri to record a 3-1 victory over Dibba at the Al Nahyan Stadium. Dibba ended the game with 10 players after Ali Mohammed was sent off seven minutes from time after collecting a second yellow card.

Tagliabue’s double took his season’s tally to 15 from 13 league games. The Argentine, unmarked at the far post, opened the scoring on 24 minutes with a neat header off a cross from Mohammed Bargash but the lead was shortlived, Al Ghafri’s sliding effort to intercept a Sanad Ali cross only succeeded in knocking the ball past his own goalkeeper with 38 minutes on the clock.

Valdivia restored Wahda’s lead midway through the second half. The Chilean play maker launched a curling shot that bounced awkwardly in front of Humaid Abdullah before nestling in the far corner of the net. Tagliabue made sure of the result nine minutes from time, collecting a pass from the second-half substitute Khalil Ibrahim and knocking in his second of the match.

Man of the match

Valdivia not only scored but played an influential role in creating space to put the Dibba defenders under pressure throughout. He did it despite being heavily marked and withstanding some harsh tackles.

What the managers said

Javier Aguirre, the Wahda coach: “We didn’t start the game in a good way but we saw a better second half, but we could have won much better than we did.

“We have lost about 10 players, four of them – Mohammed Al Shehhi, Abdullah Al Noobi, Mohammed Saif and Fahad Al Dhanhani – are in the military services; four of them – Mohammed Al Akbari, Ahmed Rashid, Salem Sultan, Sultan Saif – are in the UAE Olympic team, and a couple of injuries.

“However, I expect every player in the squad when provided with the opportunity to play to their true potential because our objective is still to finish in the top four in the league.”

Theo Bucker, the Dibba coach: “For a small club like Dibba it was an OK performance. It will take a while for us to reach the level of a team like Wahda. We have to play within our limited resources and when up against stronger opponents, as in most cases, there is not much we can do.”

When asked if they the club were on the lookout for new signings during the transfer window, Bucker said: “I have recommended some changes to the squad but this is not in my hands.”

The National’s verdict

Wahda looked a bit rusty after the mid-season break but are clearly a side on the up with a victory that keeps them fifth in the AGL table. They enjoyed both possession and territory for the majority of the game, and could have won more convincingly at the end had they not been so

Blog Resource : http://www.thenational.ae/sport/arabian-gulf-league-match-reports/sebastian-tagliabue-twice-on-target-for-al-wahda-in-arabian-gulf-league-win-over-dibba

‘Pakistan need to be sensible against India’

LAHORE: Former Olympian and Pakistan head coach Khwaja Junaid reckons the national hockey team need to play sensibly against India in their crucial match of the Hockey League Semi-finals in Antwerp on Friday.

Talking to Dawn on Thursday, a day after Pakistan were thrashed 6-1 by Australia, Junaid said: “We need to play a very sensible game against India.

“We played an ill-planned game against the Australians and now we need to avoid letting emotions get the better of us against India. We need to avoid forced errors as the Indians will go all out in involving our players in a physical game.”

The HWL semi-finals present Pakistan a last chance to qualify for next year’s Rio Olympics and Junaid said that Pakistan shouldn’t have gone for a victory against Australia.

“Australia and India have already secured their berths in the Olympics and our priority should’ve been to lessen the margin of defeat against Australia,” he said.

“Pakistan are a better side than India but the only difference is that the Indians have already punched their tickets to Rio so they can be more relaxed.

“Against India, attacks should be coordinated and the whole team should go forward rather than a lone individual. Pakistan should start with a counter-attacking approach against India and not allow them to build up pressure.”

Junaid added that Pakistan have a solid goalkeeper in Imran Butt and have good experience in their ranks.

“Imran was great against Australia and saved no less than four goals in the opening two quarters,” he said. “We capitulated afterwards though and couldn’t hold onto possession against the Aussies.”

India qualified for the Olympics after beating Pakistan in the final of last year’s Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. Pakistan, however, won the last game between the two sides when they beat India 4-3 in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy in December.


Blog Source: http://drasifshahid.blogspot.com/2015/06/pakistan-need-to-be-sensible-against.html

Two Indoor Trampoline Parks Now in Dubai for Fitness and Fun

The Bounce trampoline facility is not a gym but an indoor park set inside a warehouse that has been fully converted into sprung floors and trampolines. It has eighty-six trampolines laced with 12,000 springs, three trampoline basketball hoops (for slamming balls into a net) and two trampoline dodgeball courts.

The Jump Boxx complex will have over 22,000 sq. feet of interconnected American-manufactured trampolines with 100 of them used for bouncing/jumping. The venue will also contain trampoline dodgeball courts with angled trampolines, basketball dunk stations with wall-to-wall trampolines and foam pits for aerial jumping.

Both indoor trampoline Dubai parks are said to be safe and fun outlets for spending hours of fun entertainment and will offer a truly memorable experience for all ages. Such facilities are intended to be great sources of joy and leisure for many children and families.

As seen from the number of  trampoline parks built across the U.S., this is entertainment that has gained much popularity in recent times. Trampolines also offer the ultimate cardio workout; many people use them as part of a healthy regime. The benefits of trampolining are many in terms of good physical cardio activity; people have been known to achieve great conditioning results, get fit, lose weight, and increase muscles’ strength. Many types of trampoline exercises are done to target specific muscles.

Unlike other indoor exercise equipment, trampolines offer alow-impact activity that protects joints, because the trampoline pad is bouncy and soaks up a large proportion of the impact of a users’ landing, whilst exercising muscles.

Apart from the fun of spring-powered flight, the two unique venues offer trampoline fitness classes(instructor-led) where participants can be part of group sessions to burn calories and improve balance and coordination.

Today, trampolines are part of many people’s lives and they are quickly becoming the new trend in the emirate. An indoor trampoline park is one of the newest and most exciting things to do while in Dubai. Surely, residents and visitors will spring out of the heat this summer and head to one of the two indoor trampoline centers to jump to their heart’s content! 

Source : http://www.dubayblog.com/two-indoor-trampoline-parks-now-in-dubai-for-fitness-and-fun/

Don’t Miss These 5 Amazing Water Sports In Dubai

If there’s one thing you’ll love about Dubai, it’s the endless kilometers of white sandy beaches waiting to be experienced. As the weather cools down, there is no better place to be than on the coastline, challenging yourself with the Emirate’s most exhilarating water sports. From windsurfing to wake boarding, Dubai has it all.

Wakeboarding

Wakeboarding has become one of the world’s most popular board sports in recent years because it allows for amazing tricks and is very easy to learn as well as provide good exercise. Whether you want to learn to ride, jump the wakes or advance to flips, the best instructors can get you there. With practice you’ll be skiing across the water like a boss.

Wakesurfing

Wakeboarding in Dubai changes the game. Warm water all year round will have you riding hours on hours until you are hitting the wake and landing way out in the flats on all your manoeuvres. Whatever type of riding style, we have a wake that will suit you.

Jet Ski Tours

Dubai is an extraordinary city offering a stunning skyline which you can enjoy properly from the sea. Jetski’s give you the chance to refresh during the day on the sea, enjoy the speed of our new Yamaha Jetski 1050cc, jump the waves and feel the amazing sensation of this exciting watersport. Choose between our jetski trips and ride near the Burj Al Arab, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina, his highness Sheikh Island, JBR and much more.

Flyboard

Flyboard is a water jet pack that goes on your feet and allows you to surf the sky, swim like a dolphin and explore the blue water sea. The Flyboard is attached on to the powerful motor of a jet ski, drag you towards the magnificent water routes with a connection to a pair of jet boots. The Flyboard arrangement and connection provides you an opportunity to fly into the sky up to 10 meters or dive and explore underwater.

X-Jet Pack

Walk or dive on water, or fly like a bird or superhero. The X-Jet Pack is perfect for adventure lovers seeking new water adventures. The half hour water ride and dive allows plenty of time to enjoy the thrill under a safely controlled environment. The X-Jet Pack is a backpack unit strapped in by a 5 point safety harness and water is forced from the powered unit which in turn lifts you above the water. Glide using 2 hand controls to steer left, right, up and down. Fly up to 30 feet above and make it one of the most thrilling experiences of your life.

Blog and Images Source : http://blog.gameplaysport.com/dont-miss-these-5-amazing-water-sports-in-dubai/