Category: Sports

This is a very cool event that’s happening tomorrow, Saturday the 26th of March at Pro Kart. It’s actually a bunch of events which I will try my best to explain clearly.

Karting Speed Max Challenge 4 Hours
The first event is a 4 hour karting race. 40 drivers will compete in scoring the best time with 5 drivers racing every heat and the winner continuing on to the final race. The race starts at 4PM and ends at 8PM. The race is open to the public and it’s free of charge!

Dolphin Karting Cup
The second event is an event for juniors aged 5 to 8 year-olds. This race event starts at 3PM and is also free of charge.

Motocross Challenge
The final event is a motocross challenge which will be held at the motocross track adjacent to the karting one. This event will start at 1PM and will be divided into a seniors and juniors race. Participating in this event is also free but unlike the karting events you would need to bring your own dirt bike here.

For more information on these events and a map to the location plus contact numbers you can visit the Pro Kart website [Here]

*****NOTICE*****
Due to the dust storm the event was postponed till next week.

This is a really well made local parkour video, actually, it’s easily the best locally produced extreme sports video I’ve seen to date. The parkour team in the video above is a new Kuwaiti team that has been training for a couple of years now and this is their first video. The members are:

Members (الأعضاء):
Jaber Ali Al-Kinany (جابر علي الكناني)
Mohammad Ahmad Al-Attar (محمد أحمد العطار)
Yousif Jawad Al-Attar (يوسف جواد العطار)
Barrak Abbas Al-Qallaf (براك عباس القلاف)
Abdulmohsen Sleem Al-Roomy (عبدالمحسن سليم الرومي)
Abdullah jalal Sheshtar (عبدالله جلال ششتر)

Really cool. [YouTube]

Q8Geeks posted a video they took at the Kuwait Rally 2011. I didn’t think they would be allowed to get this close to the cars and now I am jealous I didn’t go and take pictures myself. [Link]

Red Bull is brining their Wanna Panna freestyle football event for the first time to Kuwait. I hadn’t heard about it before until my friend emailed me information on it. Here is a description of what Wanna Panna is:

Panna, Gate in Surinamese, is a type of street football in which fine dribbling counts rather than scoring a goal. Red Bull Wanna Panna will put candidates one facing another on a pitch measuring 6 x 6 meters in quick games lasting 4 minutes. The winner will be the one who manages to outdo his opponent in playing the ball through his legs. In case of a draw, an extra minute is added. If the score remains a draw, a panel of 3 judges will decide on the winner based on control and skills.

Date: Friday March 18th, 2011
Time: Starts at 2PM
Location: Souq Sharq

For more information visit the Red Bull website [Here]

Just found out by mistake that there is a mini Olympics of a sort just for women that being held in Abu Dhabi for the next six days. Not sure if it’s been publicized or not but I just found out about it now and not sure if the games will be broadcasted on television or not. Kuwait is participating in the games as well as female athletes from Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and UAE. They will be competing in athletics, volleyball, equestrian, taekwondo, bowling and shooting. Not sure who or how many from Kuwait are participating so if anyone has more information on this I will gladly post it. Here is a link to an article about the games. [Link]

Kuwait Charity Run has teamed up with Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice to raise funds and awareness within the Kuwait community, bringing you Kuwait’s 1st Half-Marathon Run!

Kuwait Charity Run is a non-profit group founded to encourage community members, runners, and athletes to raise funds and donations for good causes and engage in outdoor sports activities.

Distance: 21km or 10km
Date: March 19th 2011

For registration and much more information visit their website [Here]

CNN has two videos on golf in Kuwait. The first video talks about how golf came about in Kuwait and the Golf Me store located in Muthana. The second video is about the Sahara Country Club and the rising stars of golf in Kuwait. Here are the links to the videos:

Kuwait’s slow rise to world golf scene
The future golf stars of Kuwait

I found this local online store that sells TapouT clothing and gear here in Kuwait. Whenever I wear my Kenny Florian walkout shirt to the gym I always get asked where I got it from and my answer would be the US. Now though I can buy the t-shirts locally and their prices are pretty good. I haven’t ordered from them yet and I emailed them last week asking them if they had a physical store I could go and try the sizes but I still haven’t gotten a response. Not a good sign but it’s cash on delivery so nothing really to worry about. [Link]

Update: I placed an order on the website and received a phone call the following day asking for my address. The items were then delivered to me the same evening. Turns out they have a 15% discount at the moment so the price of a tshirt came out to KD11.900 which is great. Only comment I would have is now that I bought my first tshirt I wish they had an online payment option.

This is just a reminder, UFC legend Royce Gracie is going to be in Kuwait this weekend giving a 3 day seminar. It’s KD100 for the 3 days and no previous jujitsu experience is required. If you’re interested contact Side Kick Academy on 99975562. Here is a link to the Facebook event page [Link]

Spotted this “small” miniature golf setup in the Basement of Discovery Mall. I’m guessing its for kids but it’s strange no one has built a proper miniature golf course in Kuwait. I guess it probably has to do with the weather…

UFC legend and hall of famer Royce Gracie is coming back to Kuwait! Last time he was here I didn’t participate in his seminar but I managed to get a picture with him while he performed the rear naked choke on me. [Link]

Back in May I posted about MILSIM and how I took part in one of their Tactical Military Simulation Games. It was amazing! I was totally surprised we had something like that in Kuwait, it was lots of fun, the weapons were very cool and realistic and the location the simulation took place at (old abandoned prison) was something right out of Call of Duty. Now this year my friends at MILSIM (which is short for Military Simulation) have introduced something new called Desert Ops Tactical Paintball for the trigger happy people. Unlike the Tactical Military Simulation Games which require a lot of patience, skill, strategy and discipline, Desert Ops Tactical Paintball is a faster paced game that’s easier to get into right from the start.

The MILSIM Paintball is located in an area near Mutlaa. You can sign up and come as an individual or group. Price is KD15 for a full day of playing. A bag of 500 balls is for KD10 and can be shared amongst the players. You need to book in advance and you can do that from their website [Here]

They have another field opening up at Shaab Park in mid January. It’s going to be the first Milsim Airsoft and Milsim Tactical Paintball field in the region. Basically real life Call of Duty stuff and it’s going to be located right near my home so I can’t wait.

For the advanced players who are interested in the Tactical Military Simulation Games (pic above) which I took part in back in May, if you’re willing to take a 2 day training program at desert Ops to get familiar with the MILSIM game play and gear then you can also email them [Here]

A reader emailed me asking if it’s true that if Kuwait wins in tonight’s game that tomorrow will be a day off. I hadn’t heard about this and was wondering if it’s true?

I noticed Sports Corner in Salmiya has a small section with authentic Red Bull Racing Gear. They had a bunch of their Formula 1 branded gear including Vettel tshirts and Red Bull racing caps and polos. For those of you don’t follow Formula 1, this year Vettel who drives a Red Bull car was the champion.

[YouTube]

I don’t know how many people remember Abdullah Al-Moussawi or know who he is but two years ago a video popped up on YouTube of this young charismatic Kuwaiti 9 year old playing football against older kids and outplaying them. He had long curly hair and people were saying he was the next Maradonna and watching the video above you could understand why. Well anyway a reader emailed me a story about Abdullah he wanted to share, it’s kinda long but it’s interesting to read.

[YouTube]

The story talks about how a talent scout in Holland saw Abdullah’s video on YouTube and came to Kuwait to watch him live. Abdullah was then given an opportunity to go to Holland and compete in a few trials where he proved to be extremely talented and one of the top young players they had ever seen. He was then accepted into one of the best football academy’s on a scholarship without any binding contracts or strings attached. Problem was Abdullah couldn’t move to Holland without his family so they asked for help from Kuwaiti officials who agreed which prompted the family to move with Abdullah to Holland so he could attend school there and join the football academy. They even made a documentary about Abdullah which was broadcasted on Dutch TV and also screened in the Gulf Film Festival held in Dubai last year (promo clip above). Problem is Kuwait never ended up helping out and so the parents were forced to move back to Kuwait after 2 months with Abdullah ending what could have been an incredible experience for him.

That’s basically a quick summary but I recommend you read the full story. It’s very sad how Abdullah was extremely popular and big in the Dutch media while no one gave him any attention locally. It’s also sad how things turned out in the end and I wonder how Abdullah is doing right now. Check the full story below.