Viktor Axelsen is one game away from regaining his Dubai World Supeseries Finals men’s title after smashing Shi Yuqi in straight games at the Hamdan Sports Complex on Saturday.
The Danish World No 1 was ruthless as he avenged his defeat to the Chinese in the group stage with a 21-12, 21-8 demolition in just 41 minutes to reach his third consecutive final in Dubai.
Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei, a three-time Olympic silver, got the better of Son Wan-ho of Korea 21-17, 21-11 in the second men's semi-final later on to set up a showdown against Axelsen.
In contrast to the one-sided opening men’s semi-finals, the preceding women’s semi-final was a thriller.
Akane Yamaguchi won six points in succession as she rallied from 14-18 behind to edge out Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in three games to book her place in the women’s final.
It was an absorbing contest between the Japanese World No 2 and the Thai World No 6 that had the crowd on the edge of their seats throughout the 1 hour, 12 minute match.
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Read more
Upsets for world No 1s Axelsen and Tzu-ying
Opening-day victories for Axelsen and Sindhu
Axelsen expects a 'tough time' defending title
Sindhu hopes to round off season on a high
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Intanon led 16-11 before finishing it off with a deep forehand winner to take the opening game 21-17 in 24 minutes.
However, the former Thai world champion went down meekly in a contrasting second game in which she committed too many unforced errors as Yamaguchi levelled the tie 21-12.
The third game ebbed and flowed with Intanon leading 11-10 at the break. Yamaguchi struggled after the restart, trailing 18-14, before staging a stunning comeback to win six successive points to lead.
Intanon saved a match-point to make it 20-19 before Yamaguchi finally found the winning shot to end 28 engrossing minutes of action.
Next up for Yamaguchi is India's Pusarla Sindhu who booked her passage to the championship match after a hard fought 21-15, 21-18 triumph over China’s Chen Yufei.
The silver medallist at both at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the World Championship in August will meet Yamaguchi in the women’s final.
Sindhu, a silver medalist at both the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and August's World Championship, took the opening game comfortably but had to battle her way through in the next as Yufei staged a strong challenge, clawing back from 15-11 to lead 15-16 at one stage.
However, some unforced errors saw the Chinese teenager fall behind again 19-16 before winning a long rally (57 shots) and another to close in on 19-18.
But nerves got the better of her as she smashed one into the net and sent a back-hand wide to leave the large Indian contingent at Hamdan Sports Complex celebrating another win for Sindhu.
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Men’s singles:
Viktor Axelsen (DEN) bt Shi Yuqi (CHN) 21-12, 21-8; Lee Chong Wei (MAS) bt Son Wan-ho (KOR) 21-17, 21-12.
Women’s singles:
Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) bt Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) 17-21, 21-12, 21-19; Pusarla Sindhu (IND) bt Chen Yufei (CHN) 21-15, 21-18.
Men’s doubles:
Marcus Gideon/Kevin Sukamuljo (INA) bt Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (JPN) 21-10, 18-21, 21-16, Liu Cheng/Zhang Nan (CHN) bt Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen (DEN) 21-17, 21-16.
Women’s doubles:
Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN) bt Huang Yaqiong/Yu Xiaohan (CHN) 21-13, 21-14; Shiho Tanaka/Koharu Yonemoto (JPN) bt Kamilla Juhl/Christinna Pedersen (DEN) 21-19, 21-19.
Mixed doubles:
Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet (HK) bt Wang Yilyu/Huang Dongping (CHN) 18-21, 21-18, 21-17; Zheng Siwei/Chen Qingchen (CHN) bt Tontawi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir (INA) 21-12 21-17.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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
if you go
The flights
Flydubai offers three daily direct flights to Sarajevo and, from June, a daily flight from Thessaloniki from Dubai. A return flight costs from Dhs1,905 including taxes.
The trip
The Travel Scientists are the organisers of the Balkan Ride and several other rallies around the world. The 2018 running of this particular adventure will take place from August 3-11, once again starting in Sarajevo and ending a week later in Thessaloniki. If you’re driving your own vehicle, then entry start from €880 (Dhs 3,900) per person including all accommodation along the route. Contact the Travel Scientists if you wish to hire one of their vehicles.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Company%20profile
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Paltan
Producer: JP Films, Zee Studios
Director: JP Dutta
Cast: Jackie Shroff, Sonu Sood, Arjun Rampal, Siddhanth Kapoor, Luv Sinha and Harshvardhan Rane
Rating: 2/5
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
UAE v United States, T20 International Series
Both matches at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free.
1st match: Friday, 2pm
2nd match: Saturday, 2pm
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Rameez Shahzad, Amjad Gul, CP Rizwan, Mohammed Boota, Abdul Shakoor, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Amir Hayat
USA squad: Saurabh Netravalkar (captain), Jaskaran Malhotra, Elmore Hutchinson, Aaron Jones, Nosthush Kenjige, Ali Khan, Jannisar Khan, Xavier Marshall, Monank Patel, Timil Patel, Roy Silva, Jessy Singh, Steven Taylor, Hayden Walsh
Result
Tottenhan Hotspur 2 Roma 3
Tottenham: Winks 87', Janssen 90 1'
Roma 3
D Perotti 13' (pen), C Under 70', M Tumminello 90 2"
