Britain’s Harry Charles stole the spotlight with a razor-thin victory in the CSI5* 155cm Prix Hermes Sellier, the feature event on the second day of the HH The Amir’s Sword Showjumping Championship at Al Shaqab after prevailing in a high-quality jump-off.Riding Casquo Blue, Charles produced a flawless double-clear round in 37.74 seconds to edge Italy’s Emanuele Gaudiano and Esteban de Hus, who also jumped clear but finished just hundredths of a second slower in 37.77 seconds.**media[416414]**Belgium’s Pieter Devos secured third place with Primo DV - recording the fastest jump-off time but incurring four faults after knocking a pole. Edwina Tops-Alexander finished fourth on Fellow Castelfield, while Khaled Almobty completed the top five aboard Qaparezzo-A.**media[416415]**Earlier in the CSI5* 1.45m Faults and Time class, France’s Lara Tryba guided Flash de Talma to victory with a clear round in 62.41 seconds. Austria’s Max Kuhner followed closely in second place on Eic Cornets Lady in 62.54 seconds, while Brazil’s Marlon Modolo Zanotelli and Merciminka secured third in 63.56 seconds. Megane Moissonnier finished fourth on Kandoo Z and Kamal Abdullah Bahamdan rounded out the top five with Cascadello Boy RM. Belgium’s Niels Bruynseels delivered the best national performance just outside the top five, finishing sixth with Chacco’s Lando OL.In the CSI3*-W 1.35m Special Two-Phase class, Kristen Vanderveen of the United States topped the podium with Bull Run’s Mary in 31.06 seconds, ahead of Qatar’s Ibrahim Yousuf al-Mahmoud on Perle Van Dorperheide and Saeed Hamad Juma with Wathnan Diesel in third.Italy’s Gaudiano returned to winning form in the CSI3*-W 1.45m Faults and Time class, partnering Diarouge Blue PS to a clear round in 62.02 seconds. Qatar’s Faleh Suwead al-Ajami finished second aboard Wathnan Qapella, while Turkey’s Hasan Senturk claimed third with Quinti Von Hof.Egyptian riders dominated the CSI3*-W 1.30m class, with Ismail Osama El Borai winning on Incredible Z ahead of compatriot Abdallah Haitham on Consagros, while Saudi Arabia’s Bader Alfard placed third with Kimberly.Saudi Arabia’s Salem Balharith topped the CSI1* 1.20m class riding Lovina, narrowly ahead of Sheikh Fahad Jassim al-Thani on Ciara LU, with Khalid al-Hadi finishing third aboard Capoen. In the CSI1* 1.10m Special Two-Phase, Abdulaziz bin Jassim al-Thani claimed victory with Gabbana M ahead of Abdulla Ahmed al-Khulaifi and Quenta van de Corsendonksehoeve.In the National Competition 80cm Optimum Time class, Meshael Mohammed al-Thani won with Malaga, followed by Jassim Saoud al-Darwish on Janne and Bahrain’s Sultan Abdulaziz Mayoof al-Romaihi with Olissimo Van 'T Merelsnest.The CDI1* Prix St-Georges dressage competition saw Qatar’s Jassim al-Kuwari take top honours with Jack Sparrow on a score of 71.275, ahead of Wejdan Majed al-Malki riding Faisao in second and Maryam Ahmad al-Boinin with Blue Hors Touch Of Olympic L in third.Competition continues today with 10 rounds on the programme, including the feature CSI5* Grand Prix at 160cm with a jump-off for the prestigious Amir Sword. The €1.5mn Grand Prix stands as the championship’s showpiece event and ranks among the most prestigious classes in global showjumping, attracting top-ranked riders from around the world and delivering elite-level competition.Today competitions will also be held for three CSI3*-W classes counting as World Cup qualifiers, two rounds for Junior and Youth riders, a national 80cm class, an international CDI dressage class.

New Zealand’s openers Tim Seifert and Finn Allen rewrote ‌the Twenty20 World Cup record books Tuesday, pummelling the ‌United Arab Emirates’ bowling attack ‍in a stunning 10-wicket victory in Chennai. The duo chased down UAE’s competitive target of 174 with more than four overs to spare, their unbeaten partnership of 175 eclipsing the record for the highest stand for any ‍wicket at the men’s T20 World Cup. “I didn’t know that. Not much of a stats guy, but we’ll take it,” Seifert said after picking up his second player of the match award. Seifert finished unbeaten on 89 and Allen 84 as New Zealand romped home in just 15.2 overs to top Group D with a display of power-hitting that left the UAE bowlers ‌shell-shocked. New Zealand raced to 78-0 in the opening powerplay, with Seifert and Allen dispatching the ball to all corners of the ground. Although spinner Haider Ali managed to stem the flow ‍with just eight runs from his first two ‌overs, fast bowlers Muhammad Rohid and Junaid Siddique had no such luck as the openers attacked them when they bowled length deliveries. Seifert reached his half-century in 23 balls – his second fifty of the tournament after his 65 against Afghanistan – and Allen matched him stride for stride as the pair guided New Zealand to the finish line. The demolition job was completed in emphatic fashion when Seifert smashed a six down the ground. Earlier, UAE captain Muhammad Waseem had given his team hope with an unbeaten 66 after winning the toss. Despite losing opener Aryansh Sharma ​early when he skied a short ‌Jacob Duffy delivery to long leg, Waseem and Alishan Sharafu rebuilt with a 107-run partnership off 77 balls. The pair scored runs to all ‍corners of the ground, especially behind the wicket when they used the bowlers’ pace to clear the infield and find the boundary. “Red soil tends to play a lot better. They played some good shots, I’m not going to lie. They used the pace nicely,” New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner said. Sharafu made 55 before falling to ​a spectacular boundary catch, where Mark Chapman leapt into the air and caught the ball but as he fell over the boundary he quickly tossed it into the hands of Glenn Phillips. Waseem reached his fifty in 37 balls and Phillips conceded 27 runs in the 18th over, but New Zealand stemmed the flow of runs with three wickets at the death to restrict UAE to 173-6. “We were short 15-20 runs. We need to step up as a bowling team,” Waseem said. “We did not execute our plan well, we need to do that in the upcoming games.” BRIEF SCORESNew Zealand 175 for 0 (Seifert 89*, Allen 84*) beat United Arab Emirates 173 for 6 (Waseem 66, Sharafu 55, Henry 2-37) by ten wickets