China has been hailed as “the unstoppable force” in golf as the world’s best players compete in Shanghai for the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.
The tournament known as “Asia’s Major” teed off its 10th anniversary edition Thursday with 40 of the world’s top 50 players present for the second year in succession.
Back in 2005 the inaugural HSBC Champions was a European Tour event with a healthy $5 million (Dh18.3m) purse that attracted 13 of the world’s top 50 players.
Today it is the largest tournament in the world outside the US and the British Open.
“The future of golf is here,” HSBC’s global head of sponsorship and events Giles Morgan told AFP this week at Sheshan International Golf Club on the western outskirts of Shanghai, a seething metropolis that has grown rapidly to boast a population of 24 million people.
“There is a unstoppable force in China and golf needs to invest in it.”
The HSBC Champions became a World Golf Championships (WGC) event in 2009 and since has been jointly-sanctioned by all the major tours and now boasts a whopping $8.5 million prize fund.
China’s growth has mirrored that of the game: in 2005 there were just 170 courses in the world’s most populous country. Now there are more than 600 with hundreds more currently under construction.
“This tournament has been a catalyst for growth of the sport in China. And its strength is there to see,” said Morgan.
“China is quite an unstoppable force in world golf particularly when you look at where the sport is going.”
Morgan says it is the growing emergence of the middle classes in Asia that is fuelling the appetite for golf.
“There’s a revolution that’s been going on in golf for the last seven or eight years,” Morgan said. “Middle class emergence is where golf has traditionally grown.
“Golf really kickstarted in Britain at the time of the Industrial Revolution. And in the 20th Century it was about American middle class growth.
“By 2020 it’s predicted that 42 per cent of the world’s middle class will be in Asia – and therefore golf will grow,” Morgan said
“It’s very exciting because the commercial landscape for the sport almost under our noses has changed massively.
“It’s that pace of change which is so astonishing when you look at this golf tournament. The HSBC Champions is now the ninth biggest golf tournament in the world – and after only nine years that is an amazing accomplishment for the sport.”
World No 5 Henrik Stenson echoed Morgan’s comments. “I was here in 2005 and at most of the HSBC Champions since and as this golf course has changed and matured so has this event,” the Swede told AFP.
“It’s been a nice journey since 2005. Undoubtedly a big part of the future of golf and its growth is in this part of the world.”
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MATCH INFO
Liverpool v Manchester City, Sunday, 8.30pm UAE
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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
RESULT
Copa del Rey, semi-final second leg
Real Madrid 0
Barcelona 3 (Suarez (50', 73' pen), Varane (69' OG)
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The specs: 2018 GMC Terrain
Price, base / as tested: Dh94,600 / Dh159,700
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Power: 252hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 353Nm @ 2,500rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.4L / 100km
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
