Rory McIlroy celebrates golf victory with Dubai Basketball squad. After three away matches, Dubai Basketball came back home and did not disappoint the fans as they thrashed Slovenia’s Krka 91-76 with the cheering presence of Sunday’s Race to Dubai Champion Rory McIlroy in the audience.
It has been 30 days since Dubai Basketball fans last watched the home team take to the court this season at the Coca-Cola Arena and the hosts put in an impressive performance and bounced back after suffering a defeat last weekend to register 7 wins against 2 losses in the ABA League.
The crowd present at the game was over 3300 members and present at the stadium was golf superstar McIlroy, who won the DP World Tour Championship just hours earlier and claimed his sixth Race to Dubai title at Jumeirah Golf Estates, and he is also an enthusiastic supporter of basketball as well.
Surrounded by cameras and journalists, the four times Major winning golfer had made the commitment to donate Dh1 million to a charity for a hole-in-one at a full-court “Putt for Purpose” challenge, unfortunately he narrowly missed and was just a couple of inches short.
JaCorey Williams noted that the home fans inspired them, that them getting to meet McIlroy who brought along his Race to Dubai trophy teammate brought an extra level of excitement to the matches played at the Coca-Cola Arena.
“We expected it to be tough, especially before a break. It is always difficult to play these types of matches, bearing in mind there is a break afterwards,” Williams said.
“Rory has a very good level in his sport so I respect him a lot. We are in Dubai so we meet such people and it was nice to see him that way. I managed to hold onto a cup and it’s not something I’ve seen in real life. It was cool to hold a trophy for some time, it was heavy as well.”
Away from the court, the fun did not cease as the students of Sharmila Dance Centre, cheerleaders this time, came on stage with stunning dancing routines which made the audience stand up and cheer endlessly.
There are no ABA League games next week and therefore, Dubai Basketball will be in action next on November 29 when they travel to Serbia to play FMP. They will be back at the Coca-Cola Arena on December 15 against Mornar.