FUJAIRAH // A young Fujairah swordsman will set a Guinness World Record on Friday for the world's highest sword throw.
It will be the first time the height of a sword thrown into the air and caught by its handle will have been measured for an entry into the record books.
The invitation to the Guinness World Records was extended by the committee of the Al Saif Traditional Sword Competition, which is in its first year.
"Adding a Guinness Record will add value for the heritage itself and that is one of the main reasons why the sword competition was launched," said Sheikh Abdulla bin Saif Al Sharqi, the director of the organising committee.
Hazza Sulaiman al Shehhi, 18, from Dibba al Fujairah, was selected by the competition judges to represent Fujairah for his style and unparalleled technique.
"There is a noticeable difference in how he handles his sword," said Sheikh Abdulla. "Some other people might go higher with their swords but at catching the sword in the right way he's the best according to our criteria."
Mr al Shehhi was recently eliminated by text voting from the ongoing competition, despite qualifying as one of the final 32 contestants and earning the judges' best marks.
"He's the best, but because we are linked to SMS voting system and the judges only have 30 per cent of the marks, he didn't get the chance," said Sheikh Abdulla .
Friday is a second chance for the young swordsman to prove his strength to the world. He will have three throws to set a world record.
"It comes from inside, I just understand the sword," said Mr al Shehhi, who hopes to work as a police officer. "I know where it will go and how it will fall.
"I've done it since I was a boy when my father taught me. I do it at every wedding, maybe once or twice a week. We do it in the mountains or the city, everywhere. It is something for all the Shehhi and Hebsy men."
The sword for the world record must be at least 70cm long. Mr al Shehhi has just the blade for the job - his eight-year-old favourite, passed down from his father. Most of his collection comes from the old market of Ras al Khaimah.
"I have many swords, maybe 20," said Mr al Shehhi. "I have broken too many in dance."
The sword competition committee spent weeks perfecting their proposal to the Guinness World Record organisation.
"It was a little bit of a headache for us to come up with a way to measure the height accurately in centimetres," said Sheikh Abdulla. "We submitted three options for them and by Monday they will reply."
Height could be measured by GPS tracking, by horizontal lasers or by balloons set at one metre intervals. Many tosses reach a height of 13 to 15 metres.
"Since when did the human being start using the sword? Since forever," said Ali Yaeesh, a member of part of the organisation committee. "The sword was named for heroes and used for bloody things over the ages. Now we are documenting it as something positive and a piece of beautiful heritage. I believe that in itself is a record."
It may not be the only record set on Friday. While swordsmen pair off in mock battles in competition, the theatre will open to dancers' tribal entourages in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest yolla dance.
Dancers will include the 83 competitors from the sword competition, the 50 professional dancers and musicians who accompany them and the competition organisers. Visitors familiar with the dance, which features spinning toy rifles and blades, will be welcome to join the celebration and help set the record.
The festival takes place at the Fujairah Fort from 4pm onwards. The competition will follow evening prayers.
Fujairah is hoping to take the title of largest yolla from Dubai, which set the current record when 221 men from desert tribes performed a five-minute yolla at Global Village in 2008.
A record for the world's largest khandoura was broken the day before at Dubai Shopping festival with a khandoura that measured 24.96 metres and was tailored in just 12 days.
While desert tribes perform the yolla with toy rifles, people from the mountains often opt for the quivering blade, which promises to set this event apart.
azacharias@thenational.ae
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
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Three stars
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Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
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Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
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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
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Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
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Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
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Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
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Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
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(Figures in millions, approximate)
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2.30pm: Expo 2020 Dubai – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 1,600m; Winner: Barakka, Ray Dawson (jockey), Ahmad bin Harmash (trainer)
3.05pm: Now Or Never – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: One Idea, Andrea Atzeni, Doug Watson
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4.50pm: The World In One Place – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1.900m; Winner: Castlebar, Adrie de Vries, Helal Al Alawi
5.25pm: Vision – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Shanty Star, Richard Mullen, Rashed Bouresly
6pm: Al Wasl Plaza – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Jadwal, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson
