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DUBAI: Five golfers will fly the flag for the UAE on home soil as Ahmad Skaik, Sam Mullane, Jonathan Selvaraj, Abdulla Kalbat and Rayan Ahmed tee up at the 16th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, hosted at Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis Course from Oct. 23–26, 2025.

The tournament was established in 2009 by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation, The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, and the Masters Tournament to further develop amateur golf in the Asia-Pacific region.

The champion will receive an invitation to the 2026 Masters Tournament and an exemption into The 154th Open; the runner(s)-up will receive an exemption into The Open Qualifying Series; and the top three finishers will receive an exemption into The 131st Amateur Championship.

Skaik is no stranger to the championship and will be making his sixth appearance in the event. One of his standout moments came at the 2021 edition at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, where he became just the second Emirati to make the cut, a decade after Ahmed Al-Musharrekh etched his name in the history books at Singapore Island Country Club.

Skaik’s UAE national team teammate Ahmed added to that history on his debut at Japan’s Taiheiyo Club last year, becoming the third player representing the UAE to make the cut. His achievement was marked by special congratulations from Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley and Emirates Golf Federation Vice Chairman Gen. Abdullah Al-Hashmi.

Kalbat also made his championship debut last year, while both Mullane and Selvaraj are set to make their first appearances this year on home soil.

“I’m really excited; it’s always special to play significant events like this on home soil,” said Skaik.

“I know the Majlis Course well, and it’s an incredible venue with a rich history of hosting some of the world’s best players. I’m thrilled to have the chance to compete there for the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, and I can imagine the other players feel the same.”

Alongside the UAE quintet, players from an additional 41 APGC member organizations have accepted invitations, with 116 players confirmed thus far for the 120-player field.

The field includes Harry Takis of Australia, 2024 runner-up Ziqin Zhou of China, Kent Hsiao of Chinese Taipei, Jeffrey Shen of Hong Kong, China, Rayhan Latief of Indonesia, Taisei Nagasaki, Taishi Moto and Rintaro Nakano of Japan, and Fifa Laopakdee, Ratchanon “TK” Chantananuwat and Chanachon Chokprajakchat of Thailand. Representatives from four countries have claimed titles at the Asia-Pacific Amateur, including China with five victories, Australia and Japan with four each and the Republic of Korea with two.

Other Middle Eastern representatives in the field include Mousa Shana’ah, Mohammed Al-Rawashdeh, Salem Al-Abdallat and Hashem Shana’ah of Jordan, Azzan Al-Rumhy and Ahmed Al-Wahaibi of Oman, Saleh Ali Al-Kaabi and Ali Abdulla Al-Shahrani of Qatar, and Ali Al-Sakha and Khalid Saud Al-Faisal of ��������.

“To see such an exceptional field of amateur golfers coming together at Emirates Golf Club is a proud moment for us,” said Al-Hashmi, vice chairman of the EGF.

“The Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship continues to showcase the very best emerging talent from across our region, and this year is no exception. For the UAE, having five of our own players competing on home soil makes the occasion even more special,” he added.

“It is a chance for them to test themselves against the strongest amateurs in Asia-Pacific, to inspire the next generation of Emirati golfers, and to demonstrate the progress our nation has made in the game. We look forward to welcoming every player to Dubai for what promises to be a historic week of golf.”

Notable past competitors include 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, a two-time winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur, and 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith. Over the championship’s 15-year history, it has served as a springboard to some of the world’s top players, including Matsuyama, 2018 champion Takumi Kanaya and 2021 champion Keita Nakajima of Japan, Smith, Cameron Davis and Min Woo Lee of Australia, New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, the Republic of Korea’s Si Woo Kim and Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan.

Collectively, alumni of the Asia-Pacific Amateur have gone on to win 33 tournaments on the PGA Tour to date and more than 140 events across major professional tours.

Emirates Golf Club will be hosting the Asia-Pacific Amateur for the first time.

Five of the world’s top 10 Twenty20 teams will compete in the 17th Asia Cup, starting in the United Arab Emirates from Tuesday, with defending champion India grouped together with archrival Pakistan.

Here’s what to know:

COMPETING TEAMS

India is No. 1, and Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh hold Nos. 7-10 in the International Cricket Council’s T20 rankings. Joining them in the tournament, which starts with two groups of four, are Hong Kong, UAE and first-timer Oman. All three of the Associate teams qualified via the ACC Premier Cup, where Nepal only narrowly missed out.

India and Pakistan being bracketed together should catch a billion-plus TV audience and raise substantial revenue for the Asian Cricket Council. Oman and UAE are the other teams in that group.

The other group contains Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong.

PROGRESSION

The top two teams in each group will advance to the Super 4 stage.

The groups have been formed in a way that traditional on-field and off-the-field rivals — Pakistan and India — could meet three times during the tournament, if both teams go all the way to the final on Sept. 28.

Dubai will host 11 games, including the final, and Abu Dhabi will host eight games.

ASIA CUP HISTORY

The continental tournament, which began in 1984 with only Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, has expanded and is now staged every two years, alternating between the ODI and T20 formats depending on which ICC World Cup is next in line.

With India and Sri Lanka set to co-host the T20 World Cup next February, this Asia Cup is also in the sport’s shortest international format.

India has won the title eight times, followed by Sri Lanka with six. Pakistan won the last of its two titles in 2012.

HYBRID MODEL

The Board of Control for Cricket in India had been due to host the Asia Cup but preferred to organize the tournament in the UAE to avoid the logistical issues that come with the strained political relationship between India and Pakistan.

The neighboring countries don’t engage in bilateral tours with each other, which limits their head-to-head encounters to multinational tournaments at neutral venues.

When Pakistan hosted the Champions Trophy earlier this year, it organized for all India’s games to be staged in Dubai.

SUPER FOUR

India is a firm favorite with stars including captain Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah in its ranks. With the slow wickets likely to suit spinners, India has plenty of options with Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav keen to exploit the conditions.

Pakistan has been relying on a fleet of all-rounders after ignoring its two stalwarts Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan since Dec. 2024 in the shortest format. Under new coach Mike Hesson, Pakistan has played a majority of its T20 games with only three specialist bowlers, using four allrounders to bowl out the remaining overs. Whether Hesson’s template works against the likes of India remains to be seen. 

But Hesson’s blueprint at least worked in a build-up to the Asia Cup when Afghanistan crashed to its second lowest-ever T20 score of 66 against Mohammad Nawaz’s hat-trick in the final of the tri-series at Sharjah on Sunday.

Afghanistan has plenty of spin options and could edge either Bangladesh or Sri Lanka for a place in the Super 4. Led by Rashid Khan, the leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket, Afghanistan also has experienced off-spinner Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad and rookie AM Ghazanfar to challenge batters of any opposition on spin-friendly wickets.

Despite losing to Bangladesh in the recent bilateral T20 series, Sri Lanka could has the potential to make the Super 4 with opening batter Pathum Nissanka in good form at the top of the order. Wanindu Hasaranga, who injured a hamstring against Bangladesh, has regained fitness and will team up with Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage to boost the spin options.

T20 FORMAT

It follows conventional cricket rules, where taking wickets and scoring runs are the main objectives for the bowling and batting teams, but does so in a shorter, sharper timeframe. Each team is allocated one 20-over innings to bat in each game. The main aim remains to score more runs than the opposition. Matches last around three hours.