Jeev Milkha Singh, one of the UAE's favourite adopted sons, is reaping the rewards of his stunning triumph over some of the world's best golfers in last weekend's Singapore Open - the Indian's third title of the year not only brought him his biggest pay day of nearly US$800,000 (Dh4.38m) but earned him increased eligibility to compete in all of the top events on the calendar.
Prevailing in a powerful field including the major championship winners Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson, propelled Singh into the world's top 50 which offers an automatic entry into any tournament and also guaranteed him the the top spot in the Asian Order of Merit which he won for the first time two years ago.
Sunday's big earnings boost which made him the first Asian to break through the $1m prize money barrier also enabled him to become the most successful golfer ever to play on the Asian tour, surpassing Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee.
Singh is one of the travelling ambassadors for Golf in Dubai, the group who organise the Desert Classic and Ladies Masters at Emirates Golf Club, and their vice-chairman Mohamed Juma Buamaim was overjoyed at the spin-off value of the unexpected victory.
"Like the great champion that he is, Jeev has once again demonstrated how he totally commits to the job at hand and gives 100 per cent every round," Buamaim said. "It is a tribute to his fighting qualities.
"Despite being troubled by a recurring neck injury, he refused to give up and trusted his swing. He is certainly the iron man of Indian golf. We wish him all the best and look forward to welcoming him back for the Desert Classic [in late January]."
Earlier this year Singh won the European Tour's Bank Austria Open in Vienna in June and the Sammy Cup on the Japanese Tour the following month.
@Email:wjohnson@thenational.ae
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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RACECARD
6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (PA) $50,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
6.35pm: Festival City Stakes – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
7.10pm: Dubai Racing Club Classic – Listed (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 2,410m
7.45pm: Jumeirah Classic Trial – Conditions (TB) $150,000 (T) 1,400m
8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 2 (TB) $250,000 (D) 1,600m
8.55pm: Cape Verdi – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,600m
9.30pm: Dubai Dash – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,000m
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Day 1 fixtures (Saturday)
Men 1.45pm, Malaysia v Australia (Court 1); Singapore v India (Court 2); UAE v New Zealand (Court 3); South Africa v Sri Lanka (Court 4)
Women Noon, New Zealand v South Africa (Court 3); England v UAE (Court 4); 5.15pm, Australia v UAE (Court 3); England v New Zealand (Court 4)
The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
French Touch
Carla Bruni
(Verve)
