26
SUNDAY
27 NOVEMBER 2016
Regional FIT Awards 2016
The winners in full
Best Use of Social Media (Business)
Gold’s Gym No Excuses
Best Use of Social Media (Individual)
ANAFIT
Product/ Activation of the Year
Adidas Climachill Yacht Activation
GCC Recreation & Leisure Facility
of the Year
Talise Fitness Jumeirah Beach Hotel
Ladies Only Facility of the Year
Fitness First Uptown Mirdiff Ladies Only
Supplier of the Year – MEFITPRO
A show of strength
Good luck comes in threes: The award winners pose on stage at The One and Only Royal Mirage.
Fitness First and Talise Fitness claim two awards each on gala night in Dubai
By Denzil Pinto
the Year (3,001+ members)’
“The team has done a fantastic
job to achieve this and we always
thought that in whatever you
believe in, you can achieve it,” said
Shams Tabrez of Fitness First Bur
Juman.
“We have built a great team and
now have over more 4,000 members in three years which is fantastic. Looking ahead, we want to
make sure that everyone is happy
and keep winning awards and
ensure the standard is always high.”
For Dana Campari Fabro, she
says the latest accolade is proof that
Fitness First’s Uptown Mirdif centre is moving in the right direction.
“We are happy to have won this
and we really change lives through
fitness,” she said.
“This award is out for all the
members who believe in us.
“It really does show that we are
doing things right. We have an
amazing club and it’s an amazing
@denz_360
[email protected]
It was an evening to remember for
Fitness First and Talise Fitness,
who each took home two awards in
the third edition of the FIT Awards.
More than 330 descended on
The One and Only Royal Mirage
in Dubai on Thursday for the
annual gala ceremony, organised
by Sport360°, to recognise the
achievements of the UAE’s top professionals and companies.
With the fitness industry growing in the country at a rapid pace,
it was no surprise there were more
than 200 applications received
which went through a rigorous
process overseen by 17 judges.
Fitness First collected two
awards on the night with their
Uptown Mirdif branch taking the
‘Ladies Only Facility of the Year’,
while BurJuman won ‘Facility of
“It’s an amazing club
that will continue to
change lives”
– Dana Campari Fabro
place that will continue to change
lives.”
Talise Fitness also scooped a
double with their Jumeirah Beach
Hotel and Madinat Jumeirah
branches, winning the ‘GCC Recreation and Leisure Facility of the
Year’ and ‘Facility of the Year (Up to
3,000 members)’ respectively.
Among the other winners in the
event, presented by Emirates NBD
and supported by Daman Active
Life, Dubai Sports City, Juice Plus
Company and REPS, were MEFITPRO (Supplier of the Year), Pura
(GCC Health Food Operator of
the Year) and Real Pilates (Yoga
Pilates/Studio of the Year).
For Charlotte Mathers, she
ranked her ‘Female Personal Trainer of the Year’ trophy as among her
best achievements.
“A lot of hard has paid off and
it’s real validation of all my clients’
hard work,” she said.
“Their results speak for themselves but it’s important to continue working hard. This is by far the
heaviest award I’ve won and definitely the one on top of my list.”
Kaveh Bikoghli Kalkhoran got
his hands on the newly-introduced
Youth Trainer of the Year award
and looked back at his achievement
with great pride.
“I’m very delighted because it
shows that people have appreciated
all the hard work that I’ve done,” he
said.
“I’ve always put my heart and
soul in it and I wake up every day
looking for new challenges, knowing you always have to push your
limits. It’s important on delivering
on quality not quantity.”
Pictures: Chris Whiteoak
Yoga/ Pilates Studio of the Year
REAL Pilates
GCC Health Food Operator of the
Year – PURA
Facility of the Year (3,001+ Members)
Fitness First BurJuman
Facility of the Year (Up to 3,000
Members)
Talise Fitness Madinat Jumeirah
Judges Recognition Awards
Flywheel (certificate only)
Outstanding Achievement Award
Dr. Azza Abdulaziz Khalifa bin Hussain
Fitness Manager of the Year
Andy Meech, Fit Lab Gym
Group Fitness Instructor of the Year
Marija Nikolic, I SHAPE Middle East
Pilates Instructor of the Year
Liz Marshall, Real Pilates
Youth Trainer of the Year – Kaveh
Bikoghli Kalkhoran, M&S Sports
Personal Trainer of the Year (Male)
Jarred Lowson, SMART Fitness
Personal Trainer of the Year (Female)
Charlotte Mathers, SMART Fitness
General/ Club Manager of the Year
Andre Henriques, Fitness First
Racing
A sombre mood in Sharjah as victorious Swwing dies
By Peter Ward
@Sport360
Bittersweet: Sam Hitchcott.
Picture: Getty Images
[email protected]
The tragic death of Swwing,
moments after he claimed a maiden
victory at the 22nd attempt, cast a
shadow over the racing in Sharjah
yesterday.
Trained by Tony Manuel, Swwing
ended his winless run with a gallant victory in the featured 2000m
handicap under Sam Hitchcott.
However, the 6y.o. sadly collapsed
and died shortly after the race.
Manuel said: “All seemed fine
but when Sam took the saddle off
in the winner’s enclosure the horse
started to spasm so we tried to walk
him back to the stables as quickly as
we could.
“Sadly, he then collapsed and we
think had a sudden heart attack. It
is obviously a massive shame for
everybody concerned.”
In the day’s other races, the Thoroughbred equivalent of the 2000m
saw Skygazer making every yard of
the running under Tadhg O’Shea
and always looked a likely winner.
Trainer Ali Rashid Al Rayhi said:
“This horse stays well and won over
this 2000m trip at Al Ain last season. With stamina not an issue we
03
years, Swwing has been
racing in the UAE
planned to be positive and Tadhg
has given him a great ride.”
The meeting kicked off with no
less than three 1200m maidens.
The first went to AF Al
Mawhebah, trained by Mohd Ramadan, for a second winner from just
three rides with jockey Paolo Sirigu.
Richard Mullen was then aboard
AF Maher for trainer Ernst Oertel
and a very easy winner. He, like the
filly AF Al Mawhebah, was making
a winning debut.
It was then the more experienced
Yaa Salam who was able to open his
account, making his second start a
wining one with Pat Dobbs riding
for Yousif bin Ghilan.
All three were jumped out smartly, raced prominently and seldom
looked in any danger.
The other race, a 1700m handicap, was won by Mor’Eb who was
basically unsighted until finishing fast and late under Szczepan
Mazur who was riding for Khalifa
Al Neyadi.