DUBAI // The bright pink shirts dappled with hibiscus flowers are not the only things that screams originality about the Gulf's newest club, Toa Dubai.
They have also ignored the conventional route for recruiting players. The Emirates League side have one of the most cosmopolitan squads of any of the 161 sides at The Sevens this weekend.
Their second team are known as the "Toa-ratis", based on the fact that all but two of their players are Emirati. The first team have two ex-Samoa internationals, including Trevor Leota, the peroxide blond tank, yet their leading light yesterday hails from the rugby backwater of Pakistan.
If stereotypes are to be believed Adnan Niazi should have been more concerned with how Mohammed Yousuf and Co were doing against New Zealand, rather than throwing miss passes and scoring tries.
"I don't care about cricket," said Niazi, who dotted down two tries in Toa's 40-7 win over Dubai Dragons third team. "I don't mind Twenty20, but the rest is too slow. I like fast- running and fast-moving games, which is why I like sevens."
The 24-year-old fly-half first picked up a rugby ball when he was 16 at the suggestion of his cousins in his native Islamabad. He has been living in Dubai for five years, where he is studying to be a chartered accountant. Next year he is expected to debut for the full Pakistan side when they play in division two of the Asian Five nations.
"I am looking forward to representing my country," he said. "Two of my cousins have already played for them, so I want to follow."
In the top tier of the local competition, Luke Sinclair's disappointment at being cut from the Arabian Gulf squad was compounded when he suffered a serious knee injury playing for Dubai Exiles against the Dragons.
@Email:pradley@thenational.ae
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people
First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
AIDA%20RETURNS
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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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
2024%20Dubai%20Marathon%20Results
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Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
