Daham wins ‘King of Drift’ title for 2nd year in a ro · Daham wins ‘King of Drift’ title...

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ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2015 42 SPORTS (Left to right): Fadi Boushari and Ahmed Daham in action. Heartbreak for disqualified Boustani Daham wins ‘King of Drift’ title for 2nd year in a row DUBAI, Nov 22: Representing the UAE, Ahmad Daham produced a masterclass performance to claim the coveted “King of Drift” title for the second consecutive year, in front of an adrenaline-fuelled 4,000 strong crowd at the Red Bull Car Park Drift Final 2015, held under the umbrella of the Dubai Motor Festival at the Meydan car park. Daham secured the first place with a score of 358 points in his tuned Nissan Sylvia. He finished ahead of Oman’s Ali Al Balushi yet again, having beaten him by one point last year. Al Balushi ended the season with 335 points from the Final. Jordan’s Rafat Haroon took the third spot on the podium with 306 points. Lebanese drifter Fadi El Boustani’s night ended in heart- break when his car stalled at the start line on his last run and in the final four. El Boustani had five minutes to address the mechanical problem, but luck was not on his side and he was disqualified. Having entered the Final as a dark horse, the Lebanese drifter cer- tainly won the crowd’s hearts, with a blistering run that earned him 370 points — the highest score for a single run in this year’s Final. “To be crowned King of Drift is incredible, and to do it on such an extremely hard technical track is unbelievable,” commented Ahmad Daham after the event. “The other guys pushed me all the way to the finish and I really had to be on top of my game. I couldn’t relax for even a second.” The Final brought together fif- teen 15 drifters hailing from Tunisia, Kuwait, Mauritius, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman, Egypt, Qatar, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The tough job of separating the competitors went to judges Issa Ben Dalmouk, Robbie Nishida, Nikita Shikov and Dai Yoshihara, who watched closely for the 7 key judging criteria. A maximum of 80 points was allocated to drifting skills during the first and second sections, while the car’s looks and design accounted for up to 60 points, with another 60 points allo- cated to the driver’s proximity to the pendulum ‘clipping point’. Tire smoke, car sound and performance in the ‘Box’ - a tight enclosure the drifters need to do a ‘donut’ in - each contributed 40 points to the total score. The Red Bull Car Park Drift Final was held in partnership with Ford Middle East, Aramex Shop and Ship, Pirelli, MBC Action, Al Arabiya 99 and Meydan. DRIFTING RBCPD 2015 winners Canadians Weaver and Poje win gold in ice dancing Radionova leads Russian sweep, Fernandez tops men MOSCOW, Nov 22, (AFP): Elena Radionova lead a women’s podium sweep by the hosts at the Cup of Russia figure skating Grand Prix in Moscow on Saturday as world cham- pion Javier Fernandez won the men’s event. Radionova, 16, took gold ahead of compatriot Evgenia Medvedeva and Olympic champion Adelina Sotnikova, who was competing at her first international competition since missing last season through injury. National champion Radionova, who had seized the lead after Friday’s short programme, presented a solid free skate to the soundtrack ‘Titanic’, scoring 139.53 points for an overall total of 211.32. Medvedeva, 16, held her second position despite scoring highest in the free skate, 139.73, to finish 4.56 points behind Radionova with 206.76. Both Radionova, who finished third in the Cup of China, and Medvedeva, winner of Skate America, now look set to compete in the Grand Prix final in Barcelona next month. Sotnikova, 19, managed to jump into third position from fourth after the short programme with her free skate to Lara Fabian’s ‘Je Suis Malade’. In the men’s section, Spaniard Fernandez, second after the short programme, blew away the opposi- tion with his dynamic free skate to Frank Sinatra’s ‘Guys and Dolls’ despite having a point deducted. The 24-year-old reigning world and European champion scored 184.44 for the free skate and 271.43 overall. “It wasn’t my best skating,” admit- ted Fernandez, who also won the Cup of China. “But I hope that two victories at the Grand Prix stages will help me perform well at the GP finals in Barcelona.” Russia’s 17-year-old Adian Pitkeev, who won the short pro- gramme, finished second over 20 points behind the Spaniard, with American Adam Rippon third two points further back. In pairs, Russia’s Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov, the Olympic sil- ver medallists, underlined their dom- ination with an almost flawless free skate to ‘Man and Shadow’ by Danny Elfman. “It’s terrific to win especially in front of our home crowd,” Klimov said. “We’re happy with the result as we kept alive our chance of a place in the Grand Prix finals with this win,” he added, after they finished fourth in Skate America. They got an overall 214.70 to fin- ish 6.68 ahead of fellow Russians Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov, who held second despite some uncertain landings. Chinese duo Cheng Peng and Hao Zhang finished third. In ice dancing, Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, added a second gold after Skate Canada, scoring 173.58 to finish 1.97 ahead of 2014 world champions Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte of Italy. The final stop in the six-leg Grand Prix series will be next week’s NHK Trophy in Nagano with the top six skaters in the four disciplines qualifying for the Grand Prix final in Barcelona from Dec 10-13. US Polina Edmunds performs during the ladies free skating at the ISU Grand Prix Figure skating Rostelekom Cup in Moscow on Nov 21. (AFP) FIGURE SKATING

Transcript of Daham wins ‘King of Drift’ title for 2nd year in a ro · Daham wins ‘King of Drift’ title...

ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2015

42SPORTS

(Left to right): Fadi Boushari and Ahmed Daham in action.

Heartbreak for disqualified Boustani

Daham wins ‘King of Drift’ title for 2nd year in a rowDUBAI, Nov 22: Representing theUAE, Ahmad Daham produced amasterclass performance to claimthe coveted “King of Drift” title forthe second consecutive year, infront of an adrenaline-fuelled4,000 strong crowd at the Red BullCar Park Drift Final 2015, heldunder the umbrella of the DubaiMotor Festival at the Meydan carpark.

Daham secured the first placewith a score of 358 points in histuned Nissan Sylvia. He finishedahead of Oman’s Ali Al Balushi yetagain, having beaten him by onepoint last year. Al Balushi endedthe season with 335 points from theFinal. Jordan’s Rafat Haroon tookthe third spot on the podium with306 points.

Lebanese drifter Fadi ElBoustani’s night ended in heart-break when his car stalled at thestart line on his last run and in thefinal four. El Boustani had fiveminutes to address the mechanicalproblem, but luck was not on hisside and he was disqualified.Having entered the Final as a darkhorse, the Lebanese drifter cer-tainly won the crowd’s hearts,with a blistering run that earnedhim 370 points — the highestscore for a single run in this year’sFinal.

“To be crowned King of Drift isincredible, and to do it on such anextremely hard technical track isunbelievable,” commented AhmadDaham after the event. “The otherguys pushed me all the way to thefinish and I really had to be on topof my game. I couldn’t relax for

even a second.” The Final brought together fif-

teen 15 drifters hailing fromTunisia, Kuwait, Mauritius,Lebanon, Jordan, Oman, Egypt,Qatar, Iran and the United ArabEmirates.

The tough job of separating thecompetitors went to judges IssaBen Dalmouk, Robbie Nishida,Nikita Shikov and Dai Yoshihara,who watched closely for the 7 keyjudging criteria. A maximum of 80points was allocated to driftingskills during the first and secondsections, while the car’s looks anddesign accounted for up to 60points, with another 60 points allo-cated to the driver’s proximity tothe pendulum ‘clipping point’. Tiresmoke, car sound and performancein the ‘Box’ - a tight enclosure thedrifters need to do a ‘donut’ in -each contributed 40 points to thetotal score.

The Red Bull Car Park DriftFinal was held in partnership withFord Middle East, Aramex Shopand Ship, Pirelli, MBC Action, AlArabiya 99 and Meydan.

DRIFTING

RBCPD 2015 winners

Canadians Weaver and Poje win gold in ice dancing

Radionova leads Russian sweep, Fernandez tops menMOSCOW, Nov 22, (AFP): ElenaRadionova lead a women’s podiumsweep by the hosts at the Cup ofRussia figure skating Grand Prix inMoscow on Saturday as world cham-pion Javier Fernandez won the men’sevent.

Radionova, 16, took gold ahead ofcompatriot Evgenia Medvedeva andOlympic champion AdelinaSotnikova, who was competing ather first international competitionsince missing last season throughinjury.

National champion Radionova,who had seized the lead afterFriday’s short programme, presenteda solid free skate to the soundtrack‘Titanic’, scoring 139.53 points foran overall total of 211.32.

Medvedeva, 16, held her secondposition despite scoring highest inthe free skate, 139.73, to finish 4.56points behind Radionova with206.76.

Both Radionova, who finishedthird in the Cup of China, andMedvedeva, winner of SkateAmerica, now look set to compete inthe Grand Prix final in Barcelonanext month.

Sotnikova, 19, managed to jumpinto third position from fourth afterthe short programme with her freeskate to Lara Fabian’s ‘Je SuisMalade’.

In the men’s section, SpaniardFernandez, second after the shortprogramme, blew away the opposi-tion with his dynamic free skate toFrank Sinatra’s ‘Guys and Dolls’despite having a point deducted.

The 24-year-old reigning worldand European champion scored184.44 for the free skate and 271.43

overall.“It wasn’t my best skating,” admit-

ted Fernandez, who also won the Cupof China.

“But I hope that two victories atthe Grand Prix stages will help meperform well at the GP finals inBarcelona.”

Russia’s 17-year-old AdianPitkeev, who won the short pro-gramme, finished second over 20points behind the Spaniard, withAmerican Adam Rippon third twopoints further back.

In pairs, Russia’s Ksenia Stolbovaand Fedor Klimov, the Olympic sil-ver medallists, underlined their dom-ination with an almost flawless freeskate to ‘Man and Shadow’ by DannyElfman.

“It’s terrific to win especially infront of our home crowd,” Klimovsaid.

“We’re happy with the result as wekept alive our chance of a place in theGrand Prix finals with this win,” headded, after they finished fourth inSkate America.

They got an overall 214.70 to fin-ish 6.68 ahead of fellow RussiansYuko Kavaguti and AlexanderSmirnov, who held second despitesome uncertain landings.

Chinese duo Cheng Peng and HaoZhang finished third.

In ice dancing, Canadians KaitlynWeaver and Andrew Poje, added asecond gold after Skate Canada,scoring 173.58 to finish 1.97 aheadof 2014 world champions AnnaCappellini and Luca Lanotte ofItaly.

The final stop in the six-legGrand Prix series will be nextweek’s NHK Trophy in Naganowith the top six skaters in the fourdisciplines qualifying for the GrandPrix final in Barcelona from Dec10-13.

US Polina Edmunds performs during the ladies free skating at the ISU GrandPrix Figure skating Rostelekom Cup in Moscow on Nov 21. (AFP)

FIGURE SKATING