DUBAI // After an indifferent first session, Sharjah came out firing in the second half to force a 3-0 victory over Kalba at the Al Nasr Club last night.
Marcelo Oliveira gave Sharjah the lead in the 49th minute, Humaid Abdullah doubled the tally nine minutes later, and Oliveira completed the scoring in extra time with his second goal.
That was more than enough to secure the victory for Sharjah on a hot, humid night.
Kalba, promoted to the top echelon this season after six years of trying, were forced to play their "home" game against Sharjah at Al Nasr in Dubai because their ground is not ready yet.
For the early parts of the match, they seemed comfortable in their home away from home, dictating the pace. But, overall, the game failed to rise above the mundane.
The stands were virtually empty, with only a handful of Sharjah supporters arriving for the game.
The proceedings on the field betrayed a similar disinterest.
The first real threatening move, from either side, did not arrive till the 17th minute and it fizzled out as Abdulla Baba failed to reach a well-measured cross by Moustapha Dabo from the right.
In the 21st minute, Juma Sanqoor gave the Sharjah defence an anxious moment when he blasted the ball just over the crossbar.
Mahmoud Almas, the Sharjah goalkeeper, was then forced to make three saves within seconds of each other in the 35th minute.
First he snuffed Babe's volley following a counter-attack; next, he slid in to block Dabo's shot; and then punched Salim Jasim's volley away for a corner. After their lethargic showing in the first half, Sharjah returned to take the lead just four minutes into the second half.
Roberto Brito Luciano, a Brazilian known as "Robinho" (but, no, not the Manchester City Robinho), crossed the ball in from the left and his Brazilian counterpart, Oliveira, rose at the far post to nod the ball home.
Robinho was instrumental in the second goal as well, again finding a teammate with a cross. Marcelo sold a dummy and Abdullah managed a faint touch on the ball as he lost his footing and it trickled into the net.
arizvi@thenational.ae
Sharjah
Oliveira 49', 90+1', Abdullah 58'
Man of the match
Marcelo Oliveira (Sharjah)
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Results
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner: Barack Beach, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
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8.15pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 2,000m
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8.50pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,600m
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9.25pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Tradesman, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
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Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
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'O'
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MATCH INFO
Qalandars 109-3 (10ovs)
Salt 30, Malan 24, Trego 23, Jayasuriya 2-14
Bangla Tigers (9.4ovs)
Fletcher 52, Rossouw 31
Bangla Tigers win by six wickets
SPECS
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