International sports stars salute Dubai as they prepare for restart of competitions

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Italian golfer Renato Paratore praised Dubai facilities after spending the lockdown period in the city
Italian golfer Renato Paratore praised Dubai facilities after spending the lockdown period in the city

Published: Fri 29 May 2020, 2:59 PM

Last updated: Fri 29 May 2020, 5:17 PM

A monstrous villain named Covid-19 may have put the planet on hold for a while but not for long. As they say, good always triumphs over evil, Dubai, the city of dreams, responded in exemplary fashion in the war against the coronavirus pandemic.
Following stringent measures taken by the leadership to battle Covid-19, Dubai is back on its feet with a bang.
And some of the top celebrities in sport, who witnessed it first hand here in Dubai, were effusive in their praise for the Emirate and spoke in glowing terms about how Dubai tackled the pandemic and how safe they felt here.
Formula One driver Pierre Gasly, Italian golfer Renato Paratore, the Chinese national football team, and a number of Chinese football clubs who play in the Chinese Super League (CSL) used Dubai as their base during the pandemic.
CSL champions Guangzhou Evergrande, coached by Italy's World Cup-winning captain and former Juventus, Real Madrid and Al Ahli centre back Fabio Cannavaro, Guangzhou R&F, coached by former Arsenal and Barcelona star Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Shanghai Shenhua were delighted with the world-class facilities in Dubai during their off season training.
Frenchman Gasly, who drives for Scuderia AlphaTauri, formerly Scuderia Toro Rosso, spent two months in Dubai after flying in from Melbourne following the season-opening Australian Grand Prix's cancellation.
And he hailed the preventive measures put in place by the country's visionary leadership.
"I (decided to) stay in Dubai for the last two months, because I have better facilities here in Dubai than back in France," said Gasly.
Gasly was to fly out to the neighbouring Kingdom of Bahrain for the Bahrain GP from March 20 to 22, which was postponed.
And the 24-year-old used the valuable time to train ahead of the planned season-opener in Austria on July 5.
"I've (just) been training hard the last two months. So that was the good thing, We've been really focused on our training since the first day we arrived," he revealed.
Gasly was also thankful to the hotel where he stayed at the Palm Jumeirah, who went out of their way to set up a special gym in an empty apartment, just a stone's throw away, so that he could safely train.
Gasly, who finished second at the Brazilian Grand Prix last year, his only podium finish in F1 so far, also got some 'track time,' so to speak, at the Dubai Autodrome, where he managed to do some karting once the lockdown restrictions eased.
"I managed to go to the karting track, so I had a couple of days doing karting, which is always good for practice, and also for fun. Honestly, I really enjoyed my time here over the last two months. I'm probably going to miss it, but I know I'll come back to Dubai (soon), because I really like this place," said Gasly.
james@khaleejtimes.com

By James Jose

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