Salute to sports

A small country with a big heart and the courage to climb the tallest mountain. We had Bangladesh, the minnows of one-day cricket, show great heart and defeat India when one thought it was all over. And we had cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar create a record that will probably never be broken. There is such an awesome feeling of goodwill and emotion when we see the spirit of man soar. What greater honour than the laurel wreath, what higher aspiration than to have your flag fly for you on the podium of victory, what more salute to the blood, sweat and tears that went into the training and the conviction and the commitment.

Ahmed Khalil celebrates one of his goals against Uzbekistan with team-mates in Tashkent on Wednesday.

We can look upon just this weekend’s events and mark them as the milestones in man’s quest to go higher, run faster, cut the waters swifter and leap further. This is our destiny and this is what we all fall back on as the salvation of mankind. When a nation, any nation, takes its sportsmen and women seriously and puts them up on a pedestal it becomes tantamount to a mandate that such a nation will have a healthy approach to its work ethos. It can safely be said that the UAE’s love for sport, its desire to produce state of the art facilities right across the sports spectrum and its call to professionals and amateurs alike to raise their standards and aim for the stars is reflected in the dedication shown to bringing the highest level of sport to the land.

From cricket and soccer to tennis and golf, to Formula-1 and horse racing, to water sports, you name it, the UAE has ensured that the facilities are first rate and worthy of global recognition. And if these facilities translate into action and bring forward a generation of doers rather than watchers, young men and women who go out there and compete in the spirit of the sport — the investment by the country will have been more than worth it.