UAE pupils skip to keep fit and win

DUBAI// Skipping is proving the latest weapon to help fight childhood obesity with more than 250 pupils taking to Nad Al Sheba sports centre to compete in the first World Inter-school Rope Skipping Championship.

The three day event, the first of its kind in the country, was attended by 103 schools from nine countries.

From the UAE, 111 pupils took part, joining schools from Austria, Belgium, China, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Egypt and Iran.

The event was split into speed and freestyle. Skippers had 30 seconds to complete as many revolutions as possible, with three judges counting, while looking to impress judges in the freestyle event with tricks and routines.

A world record for speed skipping is held by Chinese schoolboy Cenxiao Lin, 14, from the Qixing School in Guang Zhou Province. He broke his own record of 106 revolutions at the Dubai event on Friday, recording a new benchmark of 110.

Skippers were split into three age groups, under 11, 11 to 14 and 14 to 17, with boys and girls competing in their own events.

Asim Mairaj, an aircrew inspector at the General Aviation Licensing Department, said his son, Rayyan Asim, 11, has improved his skipping after taking it up at his martial arts club.

“My son asked me to look at his skipping and he was so fast, I couldn’t believe how good he was,” he said.

“He has been coached how to skip properly, and he loves it. This function has given them exposure, I wish it had started a long time ago, It is so good for their health and fitness. They have so much energy, it is a great way to burn it off.”

Rayyan Asim, who was representing Sheffield Private School in Dubai, said: “I go to karate and have been skipping for six months.

“The better I have got, the more complicated the routines have got. I practise quite a bit, but not every day.

“I have changed my technique and have got a lot better. I met the Chinese coach and he said I need to keep my body relaxed.”

nwebster@thenational.ae

Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

The specs

Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder

Transmission: CVT auto

Power: 181bhp

Torque: 244Nm

Price: Dh122,900

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EA Sports FC 25

Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5

On racial profiling at airports

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FIXTURES

All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT)

Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Generational responses to the pandemic

Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:

Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.

Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.

Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.

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yallacompare profile

Date of launch: 2014

Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer

Based: Media City, Dubai

Sector: Financial services

Size: 120 employees

Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)

A State of Passion

Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi

Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah

Rating: 4/5

Results

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