Competition intensity at NAS Sports floors ‘Prince’ Naseem

‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed, the former multiple world featherweight boxing champion, was a surprise visitor at the NAS Sports Tournament on Thursday night and was left impressed with what he saw.

A British of Yemeni origins, who hung up his gloves in 2002 after a career that saw him being hailed “as the most talented fighter to ever live” by some in the media, Prince Naseem was present at the second leg of the NAS Night Challenge for individuals where more than 1,250 participants, including 120 Pro Males and 41 Pro Females, belonging to 49 different nationalities challenged the 14 obstacles on the 4.2km course.

Last week, more than 1,000 participated in the team events of the NAS Night Challenge, which is a part of the Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament for the third year running.

Wearing a ‘kandura’ and greeting everyone on the Holy Month of Ramadan, Prince Naseem, who also watched matches of the NAS Futsal Championship, added: “It’s amazing to be here. I love the fact that they have got all these sports, all of these activities and all this excitement. It brings me back to being a world champion and feeling the serious competition going on here. Everybody wants to win.

“It’s nice to see the sporting facilities put down by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. They are massive. Congratulations on him getting married.

“For me it is amazing to be here, to be welcomed here and to visit Nad Al Sheba for the first time. I have always wanted to come to NAS Sports. I see NAS is a short abbreviation for my name, Naseem. So I like that… I like it a lot.”

Meanwhile, Khuram Barvi’s five wicket haul, coupled with DP World’s stunning implosion, saw Velocity clinch a six-wicket win and book their place in the quarterfinals of the NAS Cricket T10 Tournament, which is taking place at the Wombats Cricket Academy in Jebel Ali.

Both DP World and Velocity had won their opening matches, which meant the winner of this tie would take the quarterfinal spot from Pool 4, and in the early stages of the contest, DP World seemed to have the upper hand.

Batting first, they were cruising with 103 on the board for the loss of only one wicket, but Wajahat Akbar Khan’s dismissal for 23-ball 69 (4x4s, 7x6s) off the final delivery of the seventh over saw the innings take a dramatic turn.

A sudden nosedive followed and DP World lost eight wickets for the addition of only 20 runs. They could score only six runs from the last two overs and just one from the final one, during which Barvi picked up four wickets to finish with 5 for 15.

Chasing 124 for a win, Velocity seemed to be in a spot of bother after losing four wickets for 42 in 5.4 overs, but the unbroken 82-run partnership, off 24 balls, for the fifth wicket Adnan Nisar (66 not out: 29b, 3x4s, 7x6s) and Arslan Jawaid (33 not out: 9b, 3x4s, 3x6s) took them across the line with four balls to spare.

In the final game of Pool 5, MGM crushed DCAS by 54 runs to move into the quarterfinal with two wins from two matches. The Abu Dhabi Cricket Lads also won big on the night, defeating ASR-Meritorious by 50 runs, but it was just a consolation win as Titans Cricket Club had already punched their quarterfinal ticket from Pool 6 by winning both their matches.