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DUBAI OPENDecember 16, 2014Faycal SerghiniDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Q. What would it mean to have good results this week? FAYCAL SERGHINI: Have good results this week to have doors open to the ADT, Asian Development Tour and even to the Asian Tour. Q. How much would you welcome acknowledgment from the World Golf Federation and World Rankings for MENA Tour players? FAYCAL SERGHINI: Well, it would be great for us. At the moment we play and we don't get any World Ranking points. Our dream‑‑ my dream as a Moroccan player is to one day be able to play the Olympic Games. So as long as we don't get any World Ranking points, doesn't mean much to us. But being able to play an Asian Tour event like this one, DUBAi Open, is a great way to get ranking points and to qualify for the Olympics hopefully. Q. Would you kind of prefer or would you like if the MENA Tour players, MENA Tour events start getting points, World Ranking points, and will you be looking forward to that? FAYCAL SERGHINI: It would be the best thing. It would be a great thing because Morocco hosts two events the beginning of the season, and then we get to play like nine tournaments in great conditions, great tournaments. So if in addition to that we could get ranking points, that would be the best and greatest achievement to this tour. Q. Do you think enough is done on the MENA Tour to get points or do you think something more needs to be done? FAYCAL SERGHINI: Well, there's always things to be done but they have done quite a lot at the moment. We get to play the great courses in great shape, and year after year, you get really, really good players coming to play the MENA Tour events. So I think a lot has been done these last two, three years. Q. More events to happen? FAYCAL SERGHINI: Yes, I think if we can get it up to 20 tournaments, that would be a great achievement. Q. The next best thing is to use this as a platform into the Asian Tour. How confident should you be to be able to get into the Asian Tour or Asian Development Tour? How realistic is it to break into Asia? FAYCAL SERGHINI: It's realistic. Talking for myself, finished in the top five on the MENA Tour. So I think the Top‑20 players on the MENA Tour have a realistic chance to make it on the Asian Tour. The level is quite high, these last two years have been quite high. Tournaments are being won with really low scoring. I think the MENA Tour event that was held in Al Badia was one with I think 15‑under, if I'm correct, and I think the final two weeks later, the final on The Challenge Tour was only 12 with the top 40 Challenge Tour players. So the level is quite‑‑ to be fair, is quite good. Q. So you do foresee in these opportunities hoping to get into Asia? FAYCAL SERGHINI: Yes, definitely I like forward to it, and as being said, we have to win to get the exemption to play full‑time on the Asian Tour next year. Q. How do you think the standard of the Arab golfers has gone on the MENA Tour? FAYCAL SERGHINI: Yeah, our players, talk only about Moroccan and from the UAE‑‑ I think we are getting there. We have the Moroccan guy, Marjane, winning a MENA Tour event, which was the first Arab to win an international event. So I think we are getting there, and it's just a matter of time to see an Arab player playing on one of the main tours I'm pretty sure. Q. You finished three times runner‑up on the MENA Tour. FAYCAL SERGHINI: Yeah, lost a couple times in playoff and finished three times second. Yeah, I mean, a win is quite close, so hope to get a good result this week in the DUBAi Open. Q. Can you guess a time frame to get the first Arab into one of the tours? FAYCAL SERGHINI: I would say four years to be realistic. But at least on The Challenge Tour, I would say two years, but on one of the top three, probably not on the PGA TOUR because it's still too young, but I would say on The European Tour or Asian tour, definitely four to five years. Q. And with more opportunities like this‑‑ FAYCAL SERGHINI: Yes, definitely, definitely. That's the only thing that's going to help. Q. Following up on this question, who do you think will be the most likely player here to make it? FAYCAL SERGHINI: Well, yeah, I think I have pretty good chances to make it on one of the main tours. But I'm thinking about the youngsters coming up, Ahmed Marjane showing some really good golf; Mehdi Saissi who just won the Arab Amateur Championship with some good scoring. I see these kids, one of them getting up there soon. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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