DOHA // Elena Dementieva will look to cap a memorable year of action that saw her triumph in Dubai and at the Olympics when she steps into action at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Qatar tonight.
The Russian arrived in Doha still basking in the glory of winning the Dubai Championships in February and then taking the Olympic gold medal at the expense of her higher-ranked compatriot Dinara Safina in August in Beijing.
She is due to face Safina again this week as she is in her group for the opening stages of the competition along with the two Williams sisters, Venus and Serena.
It is Serena who Dementieva faces first in tonight's game and the world No 5 is looking to draw inspiration from her victory in Dubai.
"It all started in Dubai," she reflected. "I really improved my game a lot after that tournament [in February]. So for me, coming back to this part of the world and playing in Doha for the first time, is a great experience. I'm very excited about it. But the biggest goal for me was to play the Olympic games and win the gold medal. There is nothing like it."
Dementieva will know though that she faces a tough task to reach the latter stages of the competition due to being in the same group as the Williams sisters.
Serena is the most recent grand slam champion, having won the US Open in her own backyard two months ago and her rivals will be acutely aware that when she and big sister Venus, who won Wimbledon in July, focus their minds on winning tournaments, they usually win them.
wjohnson@thenational.ae
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Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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
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
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
