Dubai set for Emirates Super Saturday at Meydan Racecourse

KARACHI: Champions Trophy fever in Pakistan has plummeted after the hosts crashed out of the first major cricket event in the country in three decades without winning a game.
“It feels like attending a wedding where you don’t know the bride or groom,” said Kashan Khan, a medical student who watched Pakistan get beaten by New Zealand by 60 runs in the opening match in Karachi last week.
The defending champions then lost to great rivals India by six wickets to seal their fate, before their dead-rubber last group game against Bangladesh on Thursday was washed out.
“Pakistan’s poor performance has drained my enthusiasm. I don’t care about watching other teams now,” added Khan.
Pakistan’s failure to advance beyond the group phase or even win a game was a huge letdown in a country that has been gradually returning to hosting international teams after years of militancy saw it marked as a no-go zone.
Security in cities has vastly improved in recent years, including in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, where the matches are being held.
But disheartened fans have begun abandoning the tournament.
Outside Rawalpindi Stadium ticket-holders were seen trying to sell their unwanted seats ahead of Pakistan’s match against Bangladesh, but there were no takers.
“I had three tickets but no one wanted to buy them,” said Farooq Ali.
“I even tried giving them away for free, but my friends weren’t interested.”
For many, the final on March 9 holds little appeal, particularly given its location is still undecided.
Arch-rivals India, with which Pakistan has fought several wars, refused to visit its neighbor and are playing all their matches in Dubai.
In painful contrast to Pakistan’s woes, India are into the semifinals and if they reach the title decider, the final will be moved from Lahore to Dubai.
“If Pakistan isn’t playing in it, why should we care?” asked Amna Mashadi, who watched the tournament on television.
Pakistan’s latest flop dealt a severe blow not just to supporters, but also to the financial ecosystem surrounding the eight-nation event.
With Pakistan out, TV viewership has nose-dived, advertising revenues have shrunk and sponsors are demanding reductions in their campaign costs.
Pakistan’s stated-owned PTV and Ten Sports bought the joint broadcast shares of the 15 matches, each paying 1.2 billion rupees ($4.25 million).
Sources with knowledge of the broadcast deal told AFP that the two broadcasters have already lost close to 180 million rupees in two rained off matches in Rawalpindi.
Broadcasters are bracing for losses as they search for takers for the usually prime advertising spots in the semifinals and final.
“Sports advertising is always a gamble,” said a senior employee at a Pakistani company, one of the tournament’s top advertisers.
“Sponsorship deals cover the whole tournament, so pulling out isn’t an option.
“But when the national team exits early, consumers go away and the sale of the product suffers.”
Shopkeeper Mohammad Rizwan — he coincidentally has the same name as the Pakistan captain — had anticipated selling 60,000 cricket shirts of the home team.
Instead he only sold about a third of that.
“The demand for Pakistan shirts was overwhelming and in the week leading up to the event, I doubled my order,” Rizwan told AFP.
“But as soon as the team started losing, the demand plummeted. Now, I have huge unsold stock in my warehouse.
“It’s a massive loss.”
Renowned television and film actor Adnan Siddiqui fears that Pakistan’s underwhelming performance might push young fans away from the sport altogether.
“I grew up watching cricket late at night or early in the morning,” Siddiqui told AFP.
“But after these defeats, my son has lost interest completely. The real loss here is of the next generation of players and fans.”
Siddiqui flew to watch the India-Pakistan match in Dubai on Sunday and returned heartbroken.
“We used to beat India frequently but now they are well ahead of us in terms of skill and bravery. Our team looked scared.”
Despite the gloom some remain hopeful.
“This is a low point but the sun will rise again,” said Khalil Khan, a club-level cricket coach in Karachi.
“Cricket is the only sport that puts Pakistan on the global map and I’m sure our team will bring joy again in the future.”

RIYADH: In a groundbreaking move in the gaming industry, the 2025 Esports World Cup — taking place in Riyadh — has officially integrated chess into its lineup, marking a significant step in bridging traditional and digital sports.

With chess experiencing a global resurgence in online popularity, the move highlights the growing convergence of strategy, entertainment and competitive gaming.

According to Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup, incorporating chess was a natural evolution in fulfilling EWC’s commitment to showcasing the world’s best video games.

“Esports World companies promise to have the best video games in the world to be part of the Esports World Cup overall. And if you look at chess, the original board game is probably the oldest game that’s still out there and being played at scale,” he told Arab News in an exclusive interview. “It is popular almost everywhere in the world, and it had a big transition and a big growth rate in the last five years on the Internet, in video games.”

With platforms such as Chess.com redefining the sport’s accessibility and chess influencers such as Gotham Chess and Hikaru Nakamura drawing millions of viewers, the crossover between traditional chess and esports has become undeniable.

Beyond its historical significance, chess aligns perfectly with the core elements of esports — competition, strategy and global reach. Reichert highlighted its thriving competitive scene and how its digital adaptation aligns with the Esports World Cup’s club-based format.

“It has a hugely competitive ecosystem across the world, with participants who are stars and celebrities in their own right. It’s been played as a video game, and a lot of the qualifications are online,” he said.

“The biggest teams in the world, like Team Liquid, have signed Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, (and) Hikaru Nakamura being signed by Falcons — the winner of the Esports World Cup 2024. Seven of the top 10 chess players have been signed to clubs, which shows that there is a big interest on both sides, the player’s side and the club’s side.”

This integration provides an opportunity for chess professionals to compete for life-changing prize money while promoting the sport to a wider audience.

While the move has been met with overwhelming enthusiasm, the full-scale integration of chess into an esports-focused championship remains a work in progress.

“I think I can tell you after the summer,” Reichert said when asked about potential challenges. “We spent a lot of time identifying three things — a. Does it ultimately qualify as esports from a purely technical perspective? b. is the sport ready in terms of scale and openness and necessity to develop it? and c. Who is the right partner to operate this with? Esports World Cup always works with the existing ecosystem and tries to make it bigger.”

The response from both the chess and gaming communities has been overwhelmingly positive. “It almost seems like it was long overdue to merge these two worlds,” he said. There’s been a lot of positive sentiment, fan anticipation all over the Internet, and media interest in how this will unfold.

To ensure that chess aligns with the high-energy nature of esports, EWC has opted for a fast-paced 10/0 format, also known as ultra-blitz.

The goal is to create the most competitive environment possible, where every match is crucial and becomes a “do-or-die scenario for the players,” according to the CEO.

The 10/0 format is the fastest-paced, with players given only 10 minutes to complete the game, with no additional time. This leads to rapid and intense matches, requiring players to carefully manage their time from the start. It offers an exhilarating experience for both the players and the audience.

The Esports World Cup is not treating chess as a one-off experiment. The inclusion is part of a broader long-term vision.

“Everything we do in the Esports World Cup is with a long-term horizon. We are trying to establish this as one of the largest sports properties. With chess, we have officially announced a three-year partnership at least,” Reichert said, adding that their expectation and hope is that it becomes a permanent fixture.

Looking ahead, Reichert envisions chess evolving within the EWC as a platform for both elite and emerging players.

The aim is to provide life-changing prize money and expand qualifications to be larger and more inclusive on a global scale. The goal is to give new players the chance to rise and compete on the biggest stage. With chess experiencing a resurgence as an online spectator sport, the hope is to bring that excitement to a live audience at the Esports World Cup.

While chess is a major addition, the 2025 Esports World Cup is set to expand even more elsewhere.

“Last year, we had 22 different disciplines. This year, we will have 25, with some of the biggest games that were missing (such as) Valorant, the largest competitive shooter, Fatal Fury, an up-and-coming fighting game, Crossfire, which is the largest shooter in China,” Reichert said.

“The Esports World Cup promises to have the best games, (including) chess as the most classic tactical game.”

With the Esports World Cup redefining the boundaries between traditional and digital competition, chess’s inclusion marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of both esports and one of the world’s oldest strategy games. As the first tournament unfolds, the chess world — and the wider esports community — will be watching closely.