Given the chance to bloom

ABU DHABI // Twelve boys who have earned the right to take on the Abu Dhabi National golf course this weekend will be hoping to set off on a journey to fame and fortune that opened up for Justin Rose over a decade ago. Rose, one of the world's leading professionals and winner of the European Order of Merit two years ago, first became noticed as a potential champion when he became the 13th teenager to capture the Daily Telegraph Junior Golf Championship title - an event which was launched relatively quietly in 1985 but now attracts more than 40,000 entrants every year.

The capital is the seventh international destination for the cream of British and Irish youngsters following Dubai Creek which had a three-year hosting stint when taking over from Sun City in South Africa in 2005. Rose's triumph in 1997 came at Sea Island in Georgia, USA, and a year later he arrived for real on the world stage when he became leading amateur at the British Open at Royal Birkdale, famously chipping in at the 72nd hole to secure a share of fourth place.

Since then Rose, 29, has won seven professional tournaments and this year, despite playing much of his golf on the US Tour, finished a respectable 52nd on the European money list which was finalised at the Dubai World Championship at the weekend when Rose tied for 50th place. Rose, who was pictured swinging a golf club shortly after his first birthday, began playing the game as a five-year-old. He regarded the competition - temporarily renamed the Abu Dhabi Junior Championship - as one of his defining moments on the way to joining the paid ranks.

"It was a great feeling to beat some of the best junior players around," he said. "Winning is great for your confidence and that victory helped me to gain valuable experience and to continue believing in myself. "Kids enjoy playing in places where the Tour professionals play. The UAE is a great spot to play golf with perfect weather virtually guaranteed." Abu Dhabi has not yet featured on Rose's schedule, although he competed in the Qatar leg of the Desert Swing earlier this year.

Florida-based Rose hopes that the staging of such a leading event in Abu Dhabi will encourage more schoolchildren in the region to try to follow in his footsteps. "Youngsters anywhere should consider taking up golf," he said. "It teaches you honesty and integrity. You have to interact with adults most of the time which makes you more mature. It is also a game for life." The 11 boys and nine girls who qualified from this year's heats staged all over the UK and Ireland will be accompanied for the first time this year by a local representative. Joele Neale, 18, the UAE's amateur Order of Merit winner for the last two years, earned that right in a recent qualifying tournament at the Abu Dhabi course.

The English-born Neale will play for the visiting team in a challenge match against the best of the UAE teenagers today. The three-day main strokeplay event gets under way tomorrow. @Email:wjohnson@thenational.ae

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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

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While you're here:

Kareem Shaheen: War in Syria has violated every norm that we believed was sacred

Mina Al-Oraibi: Like Raed Fares, too many have died for their dream of peace in Syria

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon: What it takes to stop the use of chemical weapons

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.

- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law

COMPANY%20PROFILE

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THE BIO

Bio Box

Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul

Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader

Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Favorite food: seafood

Favorite place to travel: Lebanon

Favorite movie: Braveheart

Profile Idealz

Company: Idealz

Founded: January 2018

Based: Dubai

Sector: E-commerce

Size: (employees): 22

Investors: Co-founders and Venture Partners (9 per cent)

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Top 10 in the F1 drivers' standings

1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 202 points

2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-GP 188

3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-GP 169

4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing 117

5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 116

6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 67

7. Sergio Perez, Force India 56

8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 45

9. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 35

10. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault 26

ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures

October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA

Mobile phone packages comparison

Sole survivors

Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.

The biog

Favourite hobby: taking his rescue dog, Sally, for long walks.

Favourite book: anything by Stephen King, although he said the films rarely match the quality of the books

Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption stands out as his favourite movie, a classic King novella

Favourite music: “I have a wide and varied music taste, so it would be unfair to pick a single song from blues to rock as a favourite"

Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.