Category: Sports

I passed by Marina Mall tonight since I had read they were opening tonight. But when I got there I noticed the shutters were still down but the lights were on inside and I spotted some employees. So I made a few phone calls and managed to get a tour around the store and take some pictures.

First off, the place is HUGE. I was expecting it to be big but not this big. It’s like a giant supermarket filled with sporting goods. The store is located in Marina Mall where Virgin and a bunch of other smaller shops used to be right across from Cinnabon and The Athletes Foot.

Decathlon is a French brand and most of their stores have 18 different sections but the one in Kuwait will be missing two, climbing and hunting. The other 16 sections in the store are the following (taken from their website):

– Camping
– Running
– Cycling
– Fitness, Dance, Martial Arts
– Swimming
– Surf Sports
– Boating
– Diving
– Teamsports
– Racket Sports
– Horse Riding
– Walking
– Golf
– Roller, Skate, Scooter
– Fishing
– Target Sports

I really loved the place and can’t wait to go back once they open which will hopefully be tomorrow night (Tuesday). They were supposed to open up tonight but due to a technically difficulty they’re now aiming to open by noon tomorrow. If anyone is looking for a watch with a heart rate monitor I spotted an affordable one there for KD12.5.

It seems everywhere I look someone is wearing a FuelBand on their wrist. Since I recently got one myself, I was curious to find out how accurate it really was. The Nike FuelBand is a wrist band that has an accelerometer built in that measures your movements through out the day. Movements like running, walking, basketball etc.. get translated into something Nike calls Fuel. You start off by setting a daily Fuel goal and the more active you are the more Nike Fuel you earn. The FuelBand turns activity into sort of a game or at least makes it more enjoyable by giving you a visual target (in this case Nike Fuel) which you want to reach at the end of everyday.

The device looks pretty cool and it has a small button which when pressed lights up LEDs inside the bracelet displaying your information. Every time you press the button you flip through the menu which includes your Fuel count, calories burned, steps taken and the time of day. If you hold the button down for a few seconds it syncs the data with your iPhone and Nike Fuel App. But is it accurate?

I decided to take the the Nike FuelBand on a run along with my Garmin Forerunner. While the FuelBand uses movement to guess how much exercise you’re performing and how many calories you’re burning, the Garmin uses a heart rate sensor and a GPS connection to more accurately calculate the same. The total distance I ran was 5.12KM and this is how each device calculated the calories burned:

Garmin: 407 calories
Nike FuelBand: 602 calories

So the FuelBand was off by around 200 calories and at a sport which it should excel in. But the result was actually more accurate than I was expecting it to be.

Does it mean it’s useless? No, I don’t think so. If you’re already very active you most likely have a Polar or Garmin watch already which you wear to the gym or when running or riding your bike. The Nike FuelBand is more for people who aren’t that active but want to be. It’s something you could wear all day long and even though it’s not really accurate, it does give you a ballpark figure which helps starters understand how much their movement is burning calories or how its helping their Nike Fuel. Most importantly it’s a lot easier to use than most sport watches and the Nike App and website helps people visualize their activities and set higher targets.

The biggest issue I have with the device is the price. At $150 it’s not cheap and costs as much as those dedicated sport watches that are much more accurate (my Garmin cost me $128). The Nike FuelBand isn’t available officially in Kuwait right now but if you’re interested in getting one the best (and cheapest) options are:

Amazon: Sells for around KD60 there [Link]

Nike Store: Sells for around KD40 there but it’s a bit tricker to order. First make sure you are at the US Nike website. You can tell if you are by scrolling down to the bottom of the Nike page. If you see a US flag on the left you’re there just go directly to the shop. If you don’t see a US flag there then change it to the US store by clicking on the flag and then selecting the US. When you place the order you need to use an American Express card and then use your Aramex or Borderlinx shipping address as your billing address. I wasn’t able to use my Mastercard to place an order, it just worked with my Kuwait issued American Express. [Link]

Kuwaiti runner Mohammad Alazemi (in blue and white above) was disqualified after finishing 3rd in his 800m heat. It seems he pushed the Polish runner and so was disqualified for obstruction. [Link]

Mohammad Alazemi had previously won gold in both the 800m and 1500m races at the 2011 Asian Championships in Kobe, Japan. This was Mohammad’s third time competing at the Olympics.

Thanks Akbar

As I mentioned last week I’m starting triathlon training so I could hopefully participate in the upcoming triathlon this October. I had my first day with The 3 Club and I don’t think I did that bad. My biggest issue actually is the fact I barely had time to do anything with three different sessions squeezed into my evening. At 5PM I had cycling which went easier than I expected. This was stationary and indoor which is why it probably felt easier than my usual rides to the gym in blazing heat riding against strong headwind. Class was done by 6 and I barely had enough time to rest before I hit Core Fitness for an hour of intense weight lifting at 7PM. I finished from Core, headed home, barely had time to feed my dog, grab a bite and update my post on Fehaid Aldeehani before I had to leave again for my 10PM running session with The 3 Club. Exhausting to say the least.

The running session was held at a track in Keifan and while we were there I spotted a lot of young guys and girls doing a variety of track and field training. I spotted everything from discus throwing and high jumping to hurdles and tripple jumping. It felt great running around the track while a bunch of other track and field sports were taking place at the same time. It actually energized me and made me feel like an athlete for the hour I was there (an old one with a bad knee but still). So overall it wasn’t a bad first day at all.

After incorrectly reporting a few days back that Fehaid Aldeehani won a bronze medal at the double trap event, Fehaid ended up winning a bronze a few moments ago at the mens trap event (not double). As of right now I found only one article that mentions this since this just happened. Congrats again Fehaid! [Link]

Update: Here are the final results of the mens trap event [Link]

Kuwait has only won one other Olympic medal before and it was a bronze at the 2000 Olympics that was held in Sydney, Australia. It was Fehaid who had won the medal back then in the double trap event. The biggest accomplishment would have to be the fact that Fehaid was able to win the bronze medal this year without any support from Kuwait. According to a post on 965 Malls today, Al Qabas had an article on Fehaid in which he complains about the lack of support as well as the disastrous state of sports in Kuwait. Kuwait Airways for example didn’t even offer him extra baggage allowance when he was heading to London for the games so he had to pack light since his rifles alone weighed 17KG.

Hopefully with the bronze medal this year and the online exposure some of the athletes have been getting like Faye Sultan, the local sports authorities will realize that they need to support these talented athletes.

Update2: I’ve updated this post with pictures of Fehaid which I found [Here]

When I needed some grappling gloves I ended up ordering a pair online since I couldn’t find any locally. Go Sport used to carry the Venom brand but they ran out of stock ages ago and never restocked. Then Nat needed a pair of combat gloves and a friend of hers recommended Sportsline in Salmiya. I hadn’t heard of the place before but turns out they have a huge collection of training gloves.

They mostly carry gloves from the Everlast brand including grappling, training and boxing gloves as well as face protection and hand wraps. One wall in their store is just filled with different kinds of Everlast gear all organized very nicely.

They also have a good collection of boxing bags and gear from the Samurai brand.

Price wise I found them more expensive than Amazon even when including shipping. But if don’t want the hassle of ordering online then this is a good alternative. They’re located in the basement of Al Wataniya Complex in Salmiya. That’s the same building that has the bank CBK, right across the street from NBK and Eureka.

Fehaid Aldeehani won a bronze medal earlier today at the Olympic double trap event. The only other Olympic medal Kuwait ever won was back at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and it was again because of Fehaid. Congrats! [Link]

Update: Turns out Fehaid came in 4th NOT 3rd. I misread the Yahoo article. 4th doesn’t win him any medals but it’s still a very respectable ranking that puts Kuwait on the map.

[YouTube]

Last month Sidekick Academy competed at the 2012 US Open World Championships in Orlando and they ended up leaving with a ton of trophies. Last year when they competed they ended up winning 17 trophies and medals but this year they ended up leaving with a total of 28 which was more than any other team at the tournament! Here are the results:

Day 1: Standup “Tae Kwon Do”

FORMS DIVISIONS
Shaikha Alshuaib 1st Place Creative Teen Forms
Omar Alosaimi 1st Place Int Creative Forms
Hussain Gholoom 1st Place Int Extreme Forms
Ahmad Hayati 1st Place Adv Creative Forms
Shaikha Alshuaib 2nd Place Extreme Teen Forms
Hussain Gholoom 2nd Place Int Creative Forms
Ahmad Hayati 5th Place Adv Traditional Forms

SPARRING DIVISIONS
Nasser Alqattan 1st Place Adv Cont Sparring Heavy Weight
Ahmad Hayati 1st Place Adv Clash Sparring Heavy Weight
Shaikha Alshuaib 1st Place Teen Clash Sparring
Shaikha Alshuaib 1st Place Teen Cont Sparring
Omar Alosaimi 2nd Place Int Cont Sparring Middle Weight
Abdulrahman Aljasser 2nd Place Int Cont Sparring Heavy Weight
Mosab Alali 2nd Place Int Point Sparring Middle Weight
Abdulhadi Aladwani 3rd Place Int Cont Sparring Middle Weight
Ahmad Hayati 3rd Place Adv Cont Sparring Heavy Weight
Shaikha Alshuaib 3rd Place Teen Point Sparring
Hussain Gholoom 4th Place Int Cont Sparring Middle Weight
Ahmad Hayati 5th Place Adv Point Sparring Heavy Weight
Nasser Alqattan 5th Place Adv Point Sparring Heavy Weight

Day 2: “Jiu-Jitsu”

NO-GI Division “No- Uniform”
Abdullatif Aladwani GOLD Blue Belt Bantam Weight
Abdulrahman Aljasser SILVER Blue Belt Cruiser Weight
Abdullah Alshamri SILVER Blue Belt Master Bantam Weight
Ahmad Hayati BRONZE Blue Belt Middle Weight

GI Division “Uniform”
Nasser Alqattan GOLD Blue Belt Middle Weight
Abdullah Alshamri SILVER Blue Belt Master Bantam Weight
Ahmad Hayati BRONZE Blue Belt Middle Weight
Abdulhadi Aladwani BRONZE Blue Belt Bantam Weight

I seriously love these guys, if you want to know more about Sidekick Academy you can check out their website [Here] and their Facebook page [Here]