An ambitious new era for baseball in the region was showcased at The Sevens in Dubai at the weekend.
The four-day Baseball United Arab Classic ended with undefeated Pakistan running out 12-1 winners against the UAE after a nine-team competition that also included national sides from Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Palestine, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
And, providing an impressive home for the latest addition to the UAE's ever-expanding sporting roster, was the newly constructed Baseball United Ballpark, a venue completed from scratch in less than six weeks.
The ballpark is measured out in line with New York's Yankee Stadium, with the same dimensions as that world-famous venue in the Bronx: 318m down the left field line, 408m down centre field, 314m right field.
Kash Shaikh, chairman, chief executive and co-founder of Baseball United, believes that the ballpark not only made history due to it being the first such facility in the region but also because of the record time it was built in.
“It was all dust and dirt 38 days ago and here we are staging the inaugural Baseball United Arab Classic with nine national teams in action,” Shaikh told The National.
“No one has built a field like that in such a short period of time. We did that because we really wanted the first players who played on the field to be national team players.
“We enabled this tournament to come to life for the first time.”
Shaikh, an American born to a Pakistani mother and Indian father, believes the construction of a baseball facility like this in Dubai will be crucial in helping develop the sport at grass roots. “We spent a lot of money on it and a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into building it, so we hope that we can have multiple events here,” he added.
The second edition of the Baseball United Cup is slated for February 22 to March 1, with four franchises – Mumbai Cobras, Karachi Monarchs, Arabia Wolves and Mideast Falcons – competing in an event that marks four decades of the sport in Dubai.
“We'll announce a Riyadh team as well in March but before that and after that we want to have many national tournaments,” Shaikh said.
“We're already in talks with some of the best professional leagues in the world so that they can come play here for exhibitions. We hope to put this field to a lot of use.”
Baseball United staged their first professional franchise tournament at the Dubai Cricket Stadium last year but with so much cricket going on it became a hard task for Shaikh to schedule their calendar.
“We spent this year building the infrastructure as there is no facilities at all for baseball here,” he said.
“We had to build the whole infrastructure, the whole ecosystem, the facilities, the sponsorships, the partnerships, the broadcast and the government partnerships.
“We have been working on all that and now in 2025, we'll be doing these events mostly here because we built this field, but we'll be inviting teams from around the region and around the world.
“We brought the best partners in the world to build the ballpark, with the lighting, the netting, everything. Now we have a professional field and that in itself is a massive opportunity.”
Shaikh is supporting the Dubai Little League and works with the local community to create training programmes and curriculums as well as taking the sport to schools.
“The Dubai Little League is one of the best little leagues in the world. They do a great job. So, our focus is on trying to get more people in that little league,” he said when asked if the Ballpark would also be used as an academy to spread the sport among children.
“I'm really focused at the government level here in Dubai, the government in Abu Dhabi, hopefully embracing baseball because they've seen what we've done.
“And then supporting us at the school level, at the federal level, hopefully in the future, because we funded everything ourselves. We built everything ourselves. We marketed ourselves.
“More people are talking about Dubai in baseball circles around the world than ever in history. Everyone that knows anything about baseball knows Baseball United.
“Obviously as you know, baseball is America's crown jewel sport, America's pastime, it's a 150-year-old sport. Now, we have exported that here to the UAE.
“The eyes of America are on the UAE and the region, which is great for business, it's great for tourism.”
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
Zayed Sustainability Prize
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sav%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Purvi%20Munot%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24750%2C000%20as%20of%20March%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Angel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Squad for first two ODIs
Kohli (c), Rohit, Dhawan, Rayudu, Pandey, Dhoni (wk), Pant, Jadeja, Chahal, Kuldeep, Khaleel, Shami, Thakur, Rahul.
More coverage from the Future Forum
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
HAJJAN
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Abu%20Bakr%20Shawky%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3EStarring%3A%20Omar%20Alatawi%2C%20Tulin%20Essam%2C%20Ibrahim%20Al-Hasawi%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The five pillars of Islam
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Carzaty%2C%20now%20Kavak%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECarzaty%20launched%20in%202018%2C%20Kavak%20in%20the%20GCC%20launched%20in%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20140%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Automotive%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECarzaty%20raised%20%246m%20in%20equity%20and%20%244m%20in%20debt%3B%20Kavak%20plans%20%24130m%20investment%20in%20the%20GCC%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
How%20champions%20are%20made
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3EDiet%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E7am%20-%20Protein%20shake%20with%20oats%20and%20fruits%0D%3Cbr%3E10am%20-%205-6%20egg%20whites%0D%3Cbr%3E1pm%20-%20White%20rice%20or%20chapati%20(Indian%20bread)%20with%20chicken%0D%3Cbr%3E4pm%20-%20Dry%20fruits%20%0D%3Cbr%3E7.30pm%20-%20Pre%20workout%20meal%20%E2%80%93%20grilled%20fish%20or%20chicken%20with%20veggies%20and%20fruits%0D%3Cbr%3E8.30pm%20to%20midnight%20workout%0D%3Cbr%3E12.30am%20%E2%80%93%20Protein%20shake%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20intake%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204000-4500%20calories%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESaidu%E2%80%99s%20weight%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20110%20kg%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStats%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Biceps%2019%20inches.%20Forearms%2018%20inches%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
