Mate Pavić Again #1 in ATP Doubles Rankings, Three Croats in Top 10!
April 5, 2021 - Split tennis player Mate Pavić is again at the top of the ATP doubles rankings after July 2, 2018!
The news comes after Mate Pavić and Nikola Mektić won their fourth joint title, and the first in the Masters 1000 series tournament.
The world's best tennis pair in 2021 won the Miami Open after beating Britons Daniel Evans and Neal Skupski 6-4, 6-4 in 75 minutes during Saturday's final.
They also became the first Croatians to boast a doubles title at the Miami Open and did it without losing a set. Thus, in their 28th appearance this season, Mektić and Pavić reached their 25th victory (25-3) and are convincingly the best doubles team in 2021.
“This is our first joint Masters 1000 title. It means a lot to us. The match was great. They had a break in the first set, it wasn’t easy at all. We are satisfied with how we played," said Mate Pavić after the duel that brought him back to the top of the ATP doubles rankings.
"For the first time, I was number one for about ten weeks. I hope I can go longer now. We are also the first in the doubles ranking. We deserve it. I hope we can continue like this ", commented Pavić.
Recall, Pavić remained on the throne for weeks in his first ascent to No. 1 and has now reached 9,010 points, just ten more than second-placed Colombian Robert Farah and 100 more than third in the standings, Farah's partner Juan Sebastian Cabal. Nikola Mektić is fourth (8,910), and in the Top 10 is Ivan Dodig (6,710) in 9th!
Mektić and Pavić also became the leading doubles team this season with 3,065 points, pushing Australian Open winners Ivan Dodig and Slovak Filip Polasek (2,780) to second place.
In the individual competition, the best Croatian tennis player is Borna Ćorić, who did not play in Miami and fell by three positions, so he is now in 27th place. Marin Čilić jumped two places with a breakthrough to the round of 16 of the Miami Open and is currently the 43rd tennis player in the world.
Novak Djokovic welcomed his 315th week at number 1. Behind the Serbian tennis player are Russian Danil Medvedev, Spaniard Rafael Nadal, Austrian Dominic Thiem, and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. Among the top ten, the only change is that Alexander Zverev and Roger Federer swapped places - the German is now sixth and the Swiss player seventh.
Miami winner Pole Hubert Hurkacz made the jump from 21st place and is now in 16th, which is the best ranking in his career.
You could see the full ATP rankings HERE.
Source: HRT
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History of Power: What Were Most Dominant Empires and How Did They Achieve and Maintain Power?
April 5, 2021 - Aco Momčilović, psychologist, EMBA, Owner of FutureHR, and Ph.D. Student at the University of Dubrovnik interviews Mirko Sardelić, Ph.D., Research Associate at the Department of Historical Studies HAZU, Honorary Research Fellow of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions (Europe 1100-1800) at The University of Western Australia, and formerly a visiting scholar at the universities of Cambridge, Paris (Sorbonne), Columbia, and Harvard.
Arguably, one country could claim to have been the most successful and powerful in the world. It would be the United Kingdom, in the year 1900. No other country would ever be so dominant on a global level. There are many discussions about a post-American world, and many assume that China will overtake its dominance on the world stage. Therefore, it would be good to reflect on what was happening with state power in history.
1. What were the most powerful countries/empires at different stages of history? How was their power measured? What was the source of their power?
Mesopotamia is where the sedentary civilisation as we know it started some 10,000 years ago. The invention of the wheel, agriculture, irrigation, writing, the formation of the first cities, mathematics, and astronomy is closely connected with the area. The Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian empires are just some that achieved a significant level of development. The area gave birth (or was incorporated in) to some other fascinating empires in the centuries that followed. Some of them were less familiar to us in the West due to the polarisation between East and West that influenced politics and economics and how history is perceived.
We should mention the Umayyad and the Abbasid caliphates; at their peak, the latter ruled over an area larger than 10 million square kilometres, which stretched from Tunisia to Afghanistan. The Abbasid rule was considered to be the Golden Age of Islam (750-1258). The most impressive features of this empire, alongside the propulsive religion that had spread rapidly in these centuries, were a splendid commercial network, fabulous cities, and knowledge. Greek philosophy and geography, Persian, Greek, Indian mathematics, and astronomy – a whole range of sciences were developed in intellectual centres, especially in Baghdad. The empire used its networks and existing knowledge to support its development into one of the most propulsive empires. It also transferred this enriched knowledge ‘back’ to Europe that had ‘forgotten’ or had never known some of these achievements. We are talking about a wide range of things: Greek and Roman classical literature, geography, astronomy, financial tools (such as cheques and similar), and much more. When the Mongols conquered the empire’s capital, it was an end of an era and the beginning of a new one.
For a little over a century (in the 13th and 14th centuries), the Mongol steppe empire was doubtless the world's most influential force. Just imagine ruling China, the steppes, the polities along the Silk Road, Persia, the Russian principalities, and more – all in one empire stretching from the Sea of Japan to the Mediterranean. Its success lay in elements that are everything but measurable: the charisma of its founder Chinggis-khan, incredibly disciplined armies, skilful and capable generals, and a readiness to learn from the best. For example, they did not possess engineering knowledge, so they employed the best Chinese engineers to work for them; they had never run an empire. Therefore they assigned Persian administrators to important roles so that everything could function well. Any skilful artisan, artist, or trader was valued and incorporated into the Empire’s machine.
The Ottoman Empire dominated the area between Europe and Asia for four centuries. They owed their success to several contributing factors. One of them was certainly the military system: both in its structure and equipment, such as the gunpowder artillery that they brought to Europe. Another crucial factor was the Empire’s centralised structure, its ability to adapt, and its continuity – the many Turkic ethnic groups in Eurasia never formed a state but were rather dispersed across other polities. They also early took control of the majority of lucrative trade routes connecting Europe and Asia early on.
The Habsburg Empire had an enormous role in the development of continental Europe – some even say that, in some elements, it was the forerunner of the European Union. Moreover, before the House of Habsburg's division in 1556 into an Austrian and a Spanish branch, their possessions on several other continents entitled them to be considered a global empire. In Emperor Charles V Habsburg, it was given the label “the empire on which the Sun never sets” – referring to Spanish possessions in the Americas.
For roughly 300 years, the Golden Horde (a Mongol-Turkic khanate) dominated Russian lands, from the 13th to the 16th century. The next 300 years, however, saw the beginning of the Russian Empire’s rise. Ivan (IV) Grozny, the first Tzar of all Russians (1547-1584), conquered the Volga region and started both the modernisation and the expansion of the Empire. Peter the Great (1682-1725) modernised it further and made the West aware of his strength and presence on the Baltic (where he founded the splendid city named after him: St Petersburg). During his reign, the Russians had already explored the coasts of the Pacific Ocean. In his granddaughter-in-law, Catherine the Great, the first permanent Russian settlements were established in Alaska. The Russians sold Alaska to the United States in 1867 for 7.2 million dollars, retaining an empire on ‘just’ two continents.
At its peak, around the year 1900, the British Empire covered a jaw-dropping 24% of the world’s land surface and roughly the same percentage of the world’s population. However, the last three generations have witnessed what a single century could bring to humankind. After two world wars, the British Empire lost most of its power, and three other superpowers took its place: the United States, Russia, and China.
While the former two are, relatively speaking, more recent entities, China has had impressive continuity of civilisation. It is a pity that some aspects of Chinese history are not taught in this part of Europe; I am sure the comparative material could offer interesting food for thought. I remember that some ten years ago, Professor Walter Scheidel of Stanford University had an interesting project that compared the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220) to the Roman (Republic and) Empire, which prospered during the same period. It discussed the convergence and divergence of two powerful empires on opposite parts of Eurasia, taking into account economic and military power and state institutions.
2. Was the world ever before polarised as in the period of the Cold War? Who were the competing forces?
This polarisation you talk about is a classic mental game of Us and Them (or rather: Us vs. Them). The first example that comes to my Eurocentric mind – even though I have tried a lot to expand my horizons since, still my education was such – was the division made by the ancient Greeks. They were arguably the most responsible for the dichotomy between Asia and Europe – two enormous and fabulous constructs that influenced so many generations’ perception of everything from geography to social relations.
And indeed, it was a huge clash because the Greeks were in the orbit of one of the most powerful empires the world had ever known: the Persian Empire. Founded by Cyrus the Great (c. 600-530 BC) for a little over two centuries, it ruled the vast fertile landmass from the Indus River to the west coasts of the Black Sea and Egypt, covering more than five million square kilometres. (In comparison, the EU covers less than 4.5 million km2.)
There was a crucial reason why ‘Europe’ feared the East. After the Persians, in the millennium after Christ, several waves of nomadic migrations (which are usually dubbed ‘invasions’ by historians) occurred, which substantially affected state formation in Central and East Europe, to begin with. There were Huns, Avars, Magyars, and Cumans, all-powerful nomadic forces of nature. It all culminated with the Ottoman Empire: exactly at the geographical border of Europe and Asia, but significantly different enough to be a powerful Other for several centuries in the Early modern period (15th-19th centuries). As this empire declined, the Russian Empire became a superpower in the East, as we mentioned earlier.
In ancient times, Alexander III of Macedon was a famous king known as Alexander the Great (356-323 BC). In his early thirties, he ruled an empire stretching from the Mediterranean to the Indus river, an area larger than five million square kilometres. (Just for comparison: the legendary Roman Empire was 4.4 million km2 at its peak – and it took the Romans several centuries to accomplish what Alexander did in a bit over a decade.) His conquests were not just spectacular military and logistic achievements; they were remembered for centuries for something else, although it was related to his military victories. He went east and conquered Asian nations, one by one, creating a long-standing myth that was frequently rehearsed, especially during so many centuries of military domination by Eurasian nomads. His status was probably somewhere between that of a superhero and a saint-protector from the dangerous races of the East: such as, for example, Gog and Magog, whom he ‘repelled’ by constructing an enormous iron gate in the Caucasus.
3. According to Joseph Nye, there are several types of power. Who had the strongest military power? Was a country/empire able to influence others with their economic power? And is soft/smart power (the ability to attract and co-opt rather than coerce) something that has been gaining importance only in recent centuries?
Joseph Nye’s famous concept of ‘soft power’ is quite interesting and popular but is certainly not entirely original in its principle. Old Chinese traditions, such as Lao Tzu’s teaching, argue that water, fluid and soft, will eventually overcome the rock, rigid and strong. This was immortalised in the saying, ‘What is soft is strong.’ However, while this might be true for long-lasting concepts and processes, it certainly evades the grasp of the modern human, increasingly impatient, trapped by tight schedules, bombarded with information, lured by temptations of all sorts.
In terms of manpower, the strongest military has been reserved (quite expectedly) for the Chinese for millennia. The Russians used their manpower quite successfully (along with their winter) in the Napoleonic and World Wars. The aforementioned Mongols used skill, discipline, and strategy – some even say that it was the Mongols who invented the operational art of war, which is, according to others, a much more recent (19th-century) invention. As we mentioned previously, the Mongols attracted some merchant elites, providing a huge intercontinental market and offering trading benefits.
The Mongol cavalry is also an example of how skill, organisation, and discipline can compensate for numbers. There are more than a few examples, such as the Spartan and Macedonian phalanx, the Roman legion, English bowmen, and others.
Nonetheless, trained units and the technology they are equipped with come and go, while certain cultural imaginaries remain for centuries and millennia. And there were so many examples in which the conquering elites chose to blend into existing cultural frameworks rather than promote their own. This is the soft power you refer to, the sophisticated, intricate fibre of a civilisation’s reach and legacy. The Romans adopted many threads from the Greeks, Etruscans, Celts, Egyptians, Persians, and others. As we said, Greco-Roman and Christian foundations are embedded in the very core of the European idea and civilisation. This is exactly why there was a Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages as well, and why new imperial capitals all aspired to become ‘the new Rome.’
Soft power came embodied in various shapes, such as literacy, identity, literature, legal and economic institutions, and so on. The elements developed by religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, or Islam have also been crucial in shaping the values of a larger part of the world’s population. Apart from these, I have also been much impressed with some Australian, American, and African native cultures’ attitudes towards the environment and the beings we share it with: they were the true guardians (not owners) of the land they lived on.
This century has seen the combined use of both types of power: smart and (more or less) sophisticated soft power and hard power behind the scenes, whose scary shadows appear to remind us of the fact that superpowers have an ever-more-efficient military arsenal no one should be so reckless as to provoke.
4. Those who are studying economics on the world level are not surprised by the rise of the West in the last century, but in the broader scope of time, in China, this was perceived as a short-term fluctuation. What were the longest periods of domination by a particular entity?
The West had its 500 years of world dominance, from the Age of Discoveries to the 21st century. Portugal and Spain were the first to begin expanding, and the English, French, and Dutch followed. The Atlantic sea empires used the conjuncture and took the best from a world that was still huge, remote, and full of wonderful riches – there to be taken by those who had skill and military power. The United States used the momentum it had gained during its expansion in the 19th century and became a superpower in the 20th century. Over the last several thousand years, China has been a ‘dormant’ giant: in retrospect, one can acknowledge its superiority in its population and civilization level.
However, in today's global world, China has become a true global superpower within just a few decades. In the late 1990s, China’s imports and exports made up a bit over 3% of global trade. Within 20 years, in 2018, it rose to a staggering 12%, leaving the US in second place, with 11.5% of global trade. Not only that but, as Willy Shih, a professor at Harvard Business School, has recently summed up: “The world is dependent on China for manufacturing.”
In ancient times, one of the most impressive and long-lasting civilisations was Egypt. When King Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt, around 3100 BC, till the conquest of Alexander the Great (in the 320s BC), the country was one of the most dominant and most fascinating human cultures. Apart from the fabulous architecture and engineering, Egypt's legacy includes amazing achievements in medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and other sciences. The calendar we use is related to the one they used, while the paper we read from has its ancestor in papyrus leaves from the Nile basin.
5. What influences on our everyday lives today have roots in ancient civilisations? What technological, artistic, or scientific discoveries shaped our way of life?
I like the quote that goes something like: “History is about choosing our ancestors.” This means that we have 2x4x8x16… male and female members in our ancestral line, but we always ‘prefer’ some over others. And by this, I mean their (perceived) influence on our own identity. The world has seen so many different types of societies, governing models, (con)federations, intercontinental empires, and small yet successful city-states such as Athens, Florence, Dubrovnik, or Singapore. They have all used some advantages, such as geography, political structure, or trading skills, to extract the maximum from the circumstances in their space-time framework. Also, their leaders were considerate enough to choose their ‘ancestors’ – i.e., the role models they shaped their present and future upon.
There are many things in our lives that we cannot choose, and many that have been chosen for us. Let’s say we have some 30.000 US$ set aside and we want to buy ourselves a nice electric car. I mean, they have indeed increasingly developed into something desirable over the last couple of decades. However, it took them a while to get a chance on the market because gasoline cars were invented much earlier, right? Wrong. Both were produced in the 1880s, but the gasoline version was preferable for one reason or another.
During my freshman year at university, I read a few novels by Graham Greene (thank you, Raymond). In one of these (in The Third Man, I’d say) – and it still resonates in my memory – one of the characters ‘argues’:
“In Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had 500 years of democracy and peace - and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”
What does this say about the circumstances of development? True, wars and conflicts generated innumerable precious inventions: the will to survive generates spectacular ideas. However, does this mean that the Swiss today desperately miss something the Italians have? In terms of their quality of life, of course, not in terms of Italy’s sandy Mediterranean beaches or the number of UNESCO cultural monuments, which I am sure most Swiss citizens can regularly visit, in their (electric) cars even, within just a few hours.
From the 21st century point of view, it is easy to neglect the impact geography had on the historic balance of power. For most of its history, Europe was, in the words of Andre Gunder Frank, “a distant marginal peninsula” of Eurasia. You should also remember that the most important world empires were exclusively positioned in the northern hemisphere, within those ‘lucky latitudes’ that supported agriculture and other conditions crucial for social and political upgrades.
Only after the living conditions had been acquired that the transfer of knowledge, discoveries, and other factors began shaping societies in the way we read in history books. It may sound complex, but the further you go back in history, and the more you expand the holistic picture, covering a range of aspects such as geography, technology, and political and economic thought, the more accurate you become in reconstructing the causes for the ‘rise and fall’ of some concepts. Moreover, you discover they do not move in these two dimensions (up and down), but rather most of them circulate, returning to the stage in improved, adapted models, according to the challenges of the time.
Part 1: https://acomomcilovic.medium.com/history-of-power-part-1-e10e57f7b29c
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How E-sports in Croatia Could Become Backbone of Croatian Economy
April 5, 2021 - A look at the potential of e-sports in Croatia and how it could ultimately become the backbone of the Croatian economy.
Jutarnji List reports that it is no secret that esports are experiencing a strong expansion globally, as shown by fascinating figures: more than a billion dollars in revenue in 2020, more than half a billion fans, numerous eminent European clubs playing with their teams in major FIFA competitions. In pre-pandemic times, we witnessed crowded sports halls where gamers competed in front of tens of thousands of passionate fans, with hundreds of thousands of spectators via online platforms.
Confirmation that the interest in e-sports is active in Croatia was the first edition of the Hrvatski Telekom e-League, which was held last autumn. It was a competition in FIFA 21. The four biggest Croatian clubs - Dinamo, Hajduk, Osijek, and Rijeka - competed for the first time - and on the wings of exceptional results of the premiere edition, a new spring season is now beginning. Almost 900 players signed up for the first Hrvatski Telekom E-League, and records broke in terms of ratings: more than 400,000 fans watched the entire season and the charity match via YouTube and Facebook channels.
Since this is an industry that is still in its infancy in Croatia, there is currently no research or at least reliable data on the prevalence and impact of e-sports on the Croatian economy. Gordan Kožulj, senior manager in Deloitte's business consulting department, states that globally, in 2020, e-sports exceeded one billion dollars in revenue. And Croatia?
"At the moment, there are no reliable data on the economic indicators of e-sports and its impact on the Croatian economy. We can say for sure that the impact is not significant at the moment, but it is on an upward trend and has the potential to grow faster than other segments of the economy. In fact, the entire gaming industry, of which e-sports is a part, is accelerating exponentially, and Croatia has its own bright examples of gaming companies, such as Nanobit, Croteam, Cateia, LGM, Gamepires, and others, with average annual revenue growth of as much as 50 percent. We are witnessing that some of these companies have been the target of acquisitions in the last year by major global players. This is in line with global trends in the gaming industry, where mergers and acquisitions are happening intensively. As for e-sports as a social activity in Croatia, it is also growing from year to year among the younger, predominantly male population. Moreover, e-sports is on its way to becoming a mainstream of social events. In the last two years, the number of people in the world involved in e-sports, both in watching the broadcast of various competitions and in the game itself, has increased by 25 percent, or exceeded 500 million. A survey conducted by Deloitte in 2020 on a sample of 12,000 respondents aged 16 and over revealed that more than a third of respondents from European countries had watched e-sports at least once," explains Kožulj.
Nikola Stolnik, founder and CEO of the e-sport platform Good Game Global and a prominent member of the Croatian e-sport scene, believes not only that Croatia has a high potential for the development of e-sports but that it can be one of the backbones of the economy, which can attract many young people to come to Croatia. As a shining example, he highlights Katowice, Berlin, and Cologne, which attract hundreds of thousands of people to live events. In particular, the tournaments in Katowice, Poland, in 2018 were watched online by an audience of 40 million people, and almost 200,000 of them came to the city to watch the games live.
"We already have the infrastructure, such as Spaladium Arena, Pula Arena, Zadar sports complexes, football stadiums, all of which could be constantly used for these types of events - with a fantastic Mediterranean ambiance, because I saw with my own eyes when 35,000 people in Berlin fill the hall or stay waiting outside for e-sports events. We need to adjust the communication a bit; none of that is unattainable for us. A big advantage is that we are well connected by traffic, and we can very easily attract the whole of Central Europe," says Stolnik.
What is the easiest way to attract them?
"Simply, with large prize funds, several hundred thousand euros per competition," says the CEO of Good Game Global.
There are, of course, more prerequisites. Gordan Kožulj states that some basic advances have already been initiated, such as encouraging faster and better internet connection, i.e., the fifth-generation (5G) mobile network, which, he says, brings a revolutionary contribution to the development of the gaming industry and e-sports. On the other hand, he warns that teams, league organizations, and sponsors may increase fiscal scrutiny due to their increasing complexity and increasing global activities. Hence, it is possible to develop new concepts to reduce the taxation of digital business models in the gaming industry. Stolnik, on the other hand, believes that the interest of the local self-government is needed first, which should show the desire and initiative to organize such events.
Then in the second step, we would come as experts and as organizers of events and tournaments, and we would construct a project around a date that would suit them. The third important factor is sponsors, who must be international. At Good Game, we receive inquiries from e-sports sponsors every week, which has never happened before," says Stolnik.
As the organizer of one of the largest and most influential e-sports events in the country, Hrvatski Telekom e-Liga, this company is in a unique position to have still a better insight into the current situation but also the potential of e-sports in Croatia. Richard Brešković, Marketing Director for Private Users of Hrvatski Telekom, says that, globally, the e-sports industry is becoming a significant revenue generator and has the potential for further growth in the coming years.
"Some research shows that e-sports could attract more than $1.6 billion in total revenue globally, of which $1.3 billion comes from brand investments. We are looking forward to gradually unlocking this potential through Hrvatski Telekom's E-League, which had its premiere season in 2020. A prerequisite for the development of e-sports is a quality digital infrastructure. As far as optics are concerned, 2020 was a record year for Hrvatski Telekom, which resulted in more than 300,000 households having the fastest optical internet! There is also the first commercial 5G network in Croatia, which we launched last year, and from which the gaming community will certainly benefit greatly," Brešković points out.
When it comes to reaping the possible fruits of such investments, Brešković warns that it is too early to talk about the return on investment, but also that "further development of the e-sports scene will lead to that."
"Hrvatski Telekom invests significant funds in the development of optical infrastructure, as well as 5G technology, which are key prerequisites for e-sports and gaming in general. E-sport is compatible with our brand's positioning, which we see in the extremely positive feedback from gamers after we stepped on the e-sport scene. We intend to make it more accessible throughout Croatia because we see that there is interest in it. Return on investment, of course, is significant, but it is not the only essential measure. We must not forget that in addition to being a global business, e-sports is also fun. Given the wishes and requirements of users and global market trends, it directly reflects meeting customer needs by providing an essential platform to a large, growing number of users. And that is what we do with Hrvatski Telekom e-League," says Brešković.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports also records an increasing number of inquiries regarding the possibility of establishing an e-sports federation, establishing e-representations, and similar initiatives.
On the wings of the first season of Hrvatski Telekom's E-League, one of those who initiated further steps in the development of e-sports within his organization is definitely Toni Jelić, marketing director and e-sports team leader at NK Osijek. It is a club that has established its own e-sports team within the club and can testify first hand what it is like to be an entrepreneur trying to enter the e-sports arena.
"Our idea was to popularize and set the scale when it comes to e-sports in Croatia. The way we want to achieve this is quite different from the standard of setting up an e-sports team and finding players. We decided to build premises for e-sports, look for sponsors and develop possible cooperation, and thus expand the interest in e-sports in Croatia," explains Jelić.
He adds that only a month has passed since the announcement of establishing the NK Osijek e-sport team and that it is still early to talk about concrete effects, but that the progress is visible.
"During that period, we were contacted by numerous media, people who try to be a part of that story, both sponsorship, and gaming, contacted us. Our goal is to create teams for the main e-sports titles in the next few months, in addition to the FIFA team - League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and maybe even Fortnite. A slightly longer-term goal is to create competition within Croatia. When it comes to starting your own team, this process is, unfortunately, costly. It is necessary to pay the players, provide the necessary infrastructure, branding, and many other small things, such as travel expenses and the like. But that’s why it took us two and a half years, not a week. I hope that with this example, we will show people how to approach e-sports and encourage someone else to join us in the world of e-sports," concludes Toni Jelić.
Apart from the fact that it is not easy to get involved in e-sports as an entrepreneur, it is not easy to become a professional e-sports player. The often widespread misconception that these are “children playing” cannot be further from the truth. According to the latest research, both the audience and the players are typically men aged 15 to 35 who are educated and digitally literate and have a solid budget to spend.
For a fan to become a professional player, it takes between 3,000 to 5,000 hours to improve a game technically, then the same amount of playing time for amateur and semi-professional teams in all domestic and foreign tournaments where some notable results must be achieved to be noticed by some organization that will give you a contract and a salary. The first entry into e-sports is becoming more expensive due to rising IT equipment prices, especially graphics cards. If you want to play at a high level, you need to have a good PC with a minimum of 200 stable FPS, a 144 Hz monitor, an expensive mouse, and quality headphones. It is quite expensive, but it is necessary to play in the most similar conditions as your opponent," says Toni Miličević, e-sports expert and marketing manager at Locastic.
Of course, the global pandemic had a significant impact on the e-sports world, both positive and negative. Namely, on the one hand, the number of spectators online has significantly increased due to lockdown. Still, the segment of live tournaments, one of the most important revenue generators, has suffered.
"The Covid pandemic has accelerated the development of e-sports sections in sports clubs," says Nikola Stolnik. "And there are huge opportunities and potential because we have well-recognized sports brands that can be placed in Europe and the world. And the more these clubs have problems with classic sports because of the coronavirus, the more they open up to e-sports."
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HNL Round 27 Recap: Rijeka Tops Gorica 4:3, Dinamo and Sibenik Draw, Wins for Osijek and Hajduk
April 5, 2021 - The 27th round of the Croatian First League was held on April 2 and 3, 2021. In this Easter-weekend round, Rijeka tops Gorica 4:3, while Dinamo and Šibenik draw 1:1.
Varazdin v. Slaven Belupo (1:1)
Varazdin and Belupo opened the 27th round in Varazdin on Friday, April 2, 2021.
Djurasek scored the first goal of the match for 1:0 Varazdin at the half. Delic returned to score a late-game equalizer for 1:1 in the first minute of added time (91+1').
Varazdin is currently in 9th place with 23 points, while Belupo is in 7th with 25.
Lokomotiva v. Hajduk (0:2)
Lokomotiva and Hajduk met on Saturday, April 3, 2021, in Zagreb.
Hajduk's Livaja scored the first goal of the match already in the 15th minute for 0:1 at the half. Livaja assisted Nayir Umit in the 48th minute for 0:2, which was the final score of the match.
Lokomotiva is currently in 10th place with 20 points, while Hajduk is in 5th with 39.
Istra 1961 v. Osijek (0:2)
Istra and Osijek met on Saturday, April 3, 2021, in Pula.
Mierez scored the opening goal for Osijek in the 30th minute for 0:1 at the half. Erceg increased Osijek's lead to 0:2 in the 88th for the final score of the match.
Istra is currently in 8th place with 24 points, while Osijek is in 2nd with 61.
Sibenik v. Dinamo (1:1)
Sibenik and Dinamo met on Saturday, April 3, 2021, in Sibenik.
While the first half went without goals, Mayer put Dinamo in the lead in the 70th minute for 0:1. Just 7 minutes later, Mesa equalized for Sibenik for 1:1, which was the final score of the match.
Sibenik is currently in 6th place with 27 points, while Dinamo is in 1st with 61.
Gorica v. Rijeka (3:4)
Gorica and Rijeka closed out the 27th round on Saturday, April 3, 2021, in Velika Gorica.
Thanks to goals by Andrijasevic and Drmic, Rijeka was up 0:2 at halftime. A goal by Muric in the 50th minute and Cerin in the 64th saw Rijeka up by four goals with 25 to go.
Not even 10 minutes later, Mitrovic scored for Gorica for 1:4, Mudrinski 10 minutes after that for 2:4, and a Galovic own goal made it 3:4 with 5 minutes left. Gorica's Nimely was booked for his second yellow in the 90+1'.
Gorica is currently in 3rd place with 48 points, while Rijeka is in 4th place with 42.
You can see the full HNL table HERE.
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Personal Data of Half a Million Croatian Facebook Users Leaked
April the 5th, 2021 - The social media giant Facebook suffered another security and privacy issue recently, and Croatian Facebook users weren't left untouched by it as the personal data and information of more than half a million Croatian Facebook users ended up being leaked by a hacker.
Facebook, much like every social media platform or messaging app has fallen under scrutiny of late in regard to the privacy status of the private information of its users, and a recent hacking issue saw as many as 533 million Facebook users from across the world (106 countries) have their personal data leaked and subsequently published on a forum.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, among the leaked private Facebook information was the telephone/mobile numbers of the social media giant's many global users, as well as other sorts of personal data such as people's full names, locations and dates of birth. In some cases, even the personal e-mail addresses linked with the Facebook accounts of the site's users ended up being published on the forum.
The respected publication Business Insider, located in New York, checked some of the published data and confirmed that it was indeed authentic data.
“The published data could be extremely important for cybercriminals who could use such personal data for fraud,” warned Alon Gal, a cybersecurity expert who first pointed out this new security issue for Facebook's countless international users.
“A database of this size holding the private data of Facebook users such as their phone numbers will certainly lead to criminals using that data,” Gal told Business Insider.
Gal also looked at the Facebook user data which was leaked on a country by country basis. When it comes to the Republic of Croatia, that number alarmingly reached as many as 659,115 Croatian Facebook users, as was recently reported Vecernji list.
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Zagreb Uni Innovation Potential Blossoms with 124.6 Million Kuna Contract
April the 4th, 2021 - The Zagreb Uni is one of the leading educational faculties in the country, continually producing and then ''releasing'' many highly talented students across an array of different fields. It has showcased its innovation potential yet again in the form of a concluded contract worth a massive 124.6 million kuna.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, the strong innovation potential of the Zagreb Uni (SuZg) has once again been well and truly confirmed, this time right here on the Croatian market. The above has been done through a contract worth a massive 124.6 million kuna, which, with nine components, has just been signed with the Ministry of Science and Education.
These contracts ensure the implementation of a total of 22 projects approved by the Zagreb Uni and its faculties, out of the total number of approved projects concerning the Zagreb Uni, as many as 12 of them refer to projects being undertaken by only two Zagreb faculties - the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (6) and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (6).
These are projects that deserve a considerable amount of attention, because (among other reasons) they are being implemented, according to the spokesperson of the University of Zagreb Tamari Dagen, in cooperation with stakeholders from the business sector, who are project partners to scientific institutions. When it comes to selected FER projects, among them, for example, one of the most valuable of all is the one entitled "The development of an advanced electric bicycle charging station for a smart city", in the amount of 6.691 million kuna.
The aim of the call/invitation in regard to these projects was to direct research towards the needs of the economy, supporting research, development and innovation projects of research organisations in cooperation with the business sector, and in accordance with thematic and sub-thematic priority areas of the Smart Specialisation Strategy of the Republic of Croatia.
As part of the procedure, a total of 31 projects were eventually approved, and 177.3 million kuna in grants were awarded, which were provided from the European Regional Development Fund. That funding is intended for the implementation of applied research that is in being carried out in the field of industrial research and/or experimental development.
In addition to these faculties of the Zagreb Uni, one project was approved for the Faculty of Agriculture, the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, the Faculty of Geotechnics, the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology. Two other projects relate to the Faculty of Civil Engineering, while three have been approved for the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology.
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Popular Zadar Kolovare Beach to Get Makeover Before 2021 Season
April the 5th, 2021 - The popular Zadar Kolovare beach is set to get a brand new look before the arrival of the 2021 summer tourist season.
Although summer 2021 remains in question in the sense of what sort of touristic results Croatia might manage to achieve given the continued poor epidemiological picture across not only the country but within Europe as a whole, accompanied by a very poor, slow vaccination rollout across the majority of the continent with the exception of the United Kingdom - the extremely popular Zadar Kolovare beach will still get a proverbial face-lift.
Zadar never fails to attract tourists from all over Europe and indeed from the rest of the world with its beauty, history and abundance of culture. Those sunsets which were once described by the legendary British film director and producer Alfred Hitchcock as the most beautiful in the world also lend a helping hand. Despite all of the above, this historic Dalmatian city has suffered the same fate as the rest of the Croatian coast as tourist numbers plummeted during pandemic-dominated 2020.
With hopes for summer 2021 higher, regardless of the current unfavourable situation related to the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Zadar Kolovare beach will get some brand new outlines/contours and take on what is being referred to as a totally different look as fingers remain cautiously crossed for summer 2021 and the arrival of foreign tourists once again.
As Morski writes, amid the coronavirus pandemic back in October 2020, the works on the Zadar Kolovare beach began. Those works were long-awaited and things got off to a good start in the part of the beach between the swimming pool and the former restaurant located there.
Upon completion of the works, the local authorities have since announced, Kolovare will have a totally new appearance and a new lease of life despite the circumstances then and now.
The works are continuing in full swing and by the time things are finished up and polished off, the Zadar Kolovare beach will have completely new outlines and an updated look for visitors in summer 2021.
For much more on all you need to know about the City of Zadar, make sure to visit Total Croatia's Zadar in a Page.
More Than 15,000 Tickets Sold for RegioJet Prague-Split Train
April the 5th, 2021 - There has been a huge amount of interest from Czech tourists for holidays in Croatia this year as an impressive 15,000 tickets for the RegioJet Prague-Split train have already been sold.
As Morski writes, more than 15,000 hopeful Czech nationals have already bought their tickets for the RegioJet Prague-Split train which will hopefully take them to Croatia this summer. The very first train is set to head down to Dalmatia on May the 28th, 2021. Just like last year, this year the train organised by the RegioJet agency will run between the two countries, but now, in addition to Rijeka, passengers will also travel down to Split.
In addition to the above, the news is that Croatian passengers will also be able to board the train when it reaches Zagreb. The RegioJet Prague-Split train will run three times a week throughout the months of May, June and September, and in the peak season it will run every day, and everything has already been organised in cooperation with the Croatian Railways and the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ).
It is all being dealt with in a similar way as it was last year, when the train brought 60,000 tourists to Croatia. This year, despite the ongoing unfavourable epidemiological situation, their capacity and goal is 100,000, according to a report from Vecernji list.
''We're very optimistic despite the ongoing pandemic. We believe that the situation with the coronavirus is going to calm down, in the Czech Republic the numbers are already falling, here in Croatia, security is given by the Safe Croatia label for tourist facilities that are properly implementing safety measures. People are showing great interest in Croatia and we think that the demand will grow even more: young people are buying more tickets, while families are opting for tourist arrangements that we also offer,'' explained Ales Ondruj from RegioJet.
Last year, the train ran with twelve wagons, and this year there will be fifteen and it will carry 650 passengers - in Ogulin, the compositions will be divided into two parts and seven of the said compositions will continue on down to Split, and eight will go to Rijeka. Passengers will be met at their end destinations by buses that will then transport them to their final destinations, from Istria all the way down to Dubrovnik.
Another novelty is that this RegioJet Prague-Split train no longer goes through Slovenia, where there were administrative problems last year owing to the pandemic, but will instead come from Prague via Brno, Bratislava and Budapest to Zagreb, where Croatian passengers will be able to board, and then go on further to the Croatian coast.
''The train arrives in Zagreb early in the morning and is in Rijeka at 10:00, while the return is in the evening, so locals can also use it for a trip if they want to,'' announced Ondruj.
RegioJet is monitoring the changes in border regimes and will take care of all of the needed paperwork - they will collect certificates of negative tests or vaccination cards from passengers and deliver them directly to the Ministry of the Interior (MUP). A one-way ticket stands at a difficult to resist price of just 22 euros, and if the situation becomes complicated because of the pandemic, the money will be returned to the passengers, reports Vecernji list.
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First Regional Online Film Festival To Take Place On 9-17 April
April 4, 2021- The first joint film festival featuring films chosen by festival selectors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia will take place online from 9 to 17 April via an online platform as part of the Network of Festivals in the Adriatic Region.
It will be the first time for the four leading film festivals from the same linguistic region - the Sarajevo Film Festival (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Zagreb Film Festival (Croatia), Herceg Novi Film Festival (Montenegro), and Auteur Film Festival (Serbia) - to get together. The Sarajevo Film Festival initiated the project.
“Festivals are meeting points, places to get together and share. They are places where we can decide about our future direction together and show that we are all part of the same community – a single film community," representatives of the four festivals said in a joint statement.
The first edition of the regional film festival will feature films that can rarely be seen, including Yugoslav classics, directorial debuts, award-winning films, and the most attractive European and world titles. The audience will also have a chance to see interviews with some of the filmmakers.
The Network of Festivals in the Adriatic Region is supported by the European Union's Creative Europe program.
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Croatia Lacks Equipment To Prevent Major Sea Pollution Incidents
April 4, 2021 - The State Audit Office has found that Croatia does not have enough equipment to prevent and limit major sea pollution incidents after examining the efficiency of pollution incident response management in the Adriatic in 2017-2019.
No major pollution incidents of 2,000 cubic meters or more occurred during that period. The largest incident occurred in Raša Bay in Istria in June 2018 when about eight cubic meters of fuel leaked into the sea from a cargo ship sailing under the Lebanese flag.
The largest pollution prevention effort was undertaken in June 2018 when the Turkish ship Haksa, carrying magnesite, nearly sank in the waters off Split after the water penetrated the engine room. A diver managed to weld the crack up, and the vessel was tugged to the Trogir shipyard.
Pollution incident response management, which falls within the Ministry of the Sea's authority, Transport and Infrastructure, was assessed as partly efficient. The State Audit Office said that Croatia does not have sufficient equipment to prevent major pollution incidents. No company or state institution is conducting an accredited training program, and the register of certified companies for emergency response is not updated.
The report says that the government's necessary equipment and vessels should be provided and that the Ministry should develop the response management system in cooperation with the Defence Ministry to ensure that the system is as effective as possible.
The Office noted that the Adriatic Sea is mostly enclosed and, as such, environmentally highly vulnerable. Economic activity in it is growing steadily, which leads to increased shipping traffic.
The number of ships carrying hazardous and noxious substances rose from 1,259 in 2017 to 2,118 in 2019, while the number of passengers transported from Croatian ports increased from 37.8 million in 2017 to 42.8 million in 2019.
Increased traffic brings a greater risk of pollution of the marine environment because of accidents at sea, the release of polluted waters, and industrial waste disposal. According to the report, exploration and exploitation of the seabed and subsoil also increase the risk to the marine environport.
Potential large-scale pollution incidents in the Adriatic Sea can result in major economic and environmental disasters for Croatia, the State Audit Office warned.
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