Report & Pictures courtesy : Bellevision (Alphonse Mendonca)
Abu Dhabi, Jan 31: Konkans Dubai men's team managed to beat Bunts Dubai in an electrifying thriller to lift the most prestigious Koosamma Shambu Shetty Memorial Throwball Silver Jubilee Trophy. Among ladies' teams, Bunts Dubai beat Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha in a thriller and bagged the KSSSM Silver Jubilee Trophy.
This year being the 25th year of this prestigious tournament, there were two special sports added which attracted loads of fun and joy to the tournament - 4 x 100 mt relay and tug-of-war for all the men and ladies teams at the end of the day.
The remarkable KSSSM tournament, organized in memory of the late Koosamma Shambu Shetty, mother of Padmashree Dr B R Shetty, was held on Friday January 30 at Abu Dhabi Indian School ground. The event began at 9 am with a warm welcome accorded by Sarvotham Shetty, president, Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha and main convener of this tournament.
Sarvotham Shetty invited all the dignitaries to the dais, namely Dr B R Shetty, Dr Chandrakumari B R Shetty, N C Vijaychandra, principal of ADDS, V K Mathu, advisor, ADIS, entrepreneur Ronald Colaco, Sudhir Kumar Shettt, president/COO Global UAE Exchange, Dolphy Vaz, K K Hegde, Ronald Pinto (Hyssna), Michael D’Silva, Shekar Shetty of Arab Udupi, Sunder Shetty of Nihal Restaurant, Binoy Shetty of NMC Group, Nirmal Shetty, Clement D’Souza of ADIS, Ravindranath and Thomas Vargese of ISC.
Sarvotham Shetty accorded a grand welcome to them all and explained briefly how the tournament began in 1989 with the first matches held at the same ground between two teams - Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha and Bunts Dubai. He also read out a brief on motherly love, affection which he compared to Dr Shetty’s mother who was very generous and kind and who advised Dr B R Shetty to do charity work and succeed. "If Dr B R Shetty has reached the top of the ladder and helped numerous people and communities, it is because of the late Koosamma Shambu Shetty's blessings and her advice Dr B R Shetty has followedto help others," he said.
He then invited all the players who played the first matches in 1989 and requested Dr B R Shetty to honour them. They were Dr Chandrakumar B R Shetty (first captain), Usha Sarvotham Shetty, Bharati Karunakara Hegde, Jyoti Ashok Kumar Shetty, Dr Rajkumari K J Melanta, Prithika C R Shetty, Yashoda Santhosh Bandari, Asha Naik, Usha B G Hegde, Pratima Jayaveer Rai, Sunila Devi Prasad Shetty, Dr Aruna Krupa, Sharila B N Bandari, Rajeshwari Jayant Kumar Shetty, Urmila Pradeep Rai, and Shalini Mohan Shetty. There were honoured with shawls and mementos on the special occasion.
Also on the occasion, two players each from current teams who worked hard for building up charting the success of the teams were honoured. They were Seema Vasu Shetty and Shashi Shetty (Bunts Dubai), Sheela Sudhir kumar Shetty and Divya Prabhu (Abu Dhabi Karnakata Sangha), Placy Mendonsa and Suzie Fernandes (KCO), Irene Quadras and Nancy Quadras (Mangalore Konkans), Marina Menezes and Vineetha Sigfred D’Souza (Dubai Konkans), Shashidar Kotian and Nalini Deepak (Mogaveers).
The first referee in the history of the tournament, Jaypala Raj, who is still refereeing for the current matches, was also felicitated.
The star of the day Sarvotham Shetty who was instrumental in organizing the first tournament back in 1989 and consecutively organizing all the 25 tournaments successfully was honoured by Dr B R Shetty, who was all praise for his dedication and unending selfless service in organizing these tournaments every year. He was honoured with a traditional shawl and special memento of Silver Jubilee Celebrations. Sarvotham Shetty thanked Dr B R Shetty and Karnataka Sangha for their kind gesture and recognition.
Dr B R Shetty spoke briefly on the occasion and thanked all the teams, past and present, for their full participation and said his mother’s blessings has worked on him and on these tournaments which are successfully held every year.
Ronald Colaco who was the first guest to be present at the tournament also spoke and thanked B R Shetty and Sarvotham Shetty for their kind invitation.
The grand inauguration of the 25th Silver Jubilee of Koosamma Shambu Shetty Memorial Throwball Tournament began with the cutting of the cake by all the dignitaries on the dais and then proceeded with the league matches.
The teams that participated in the tournaments were:
Gents' throwball teams: Bunts Dubai, KCO Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha, Mogaveers Dubai, Konkans Dubai, Mangalore Konkans, Canara Catholics Fujairah and Pacific Stars Sharjah
Ladies' throwball teams: Bunts Dubai, KCO Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha, Mogaveers Dubai, Konkans Dubai, Mangalore Konkans, Pacific Stars Sharjah, Abu Dhabi Indian School.
In the league matches among the gents' teams, Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha, Bunts Dubai, Mogaveers and Konkans Dubai comfortably reached the semi-finals while among the ladies' teams, Mogaveers, Bunts Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Mangalore Konkans reached the semi-finals.
On conclusion of the semi-finals, Bunts Dubai and Konkans Dubai reached the men's finals while Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha and Bunts Dubai reached the ladies' finals.
It was great joy to watch two wonderful nail-biting electrifying finals. In the men's finals, in the first set Bunts Dubai managed to overcome Konkans Dubai, beating them by 15-11. However in the following two sets Konkans Dubai fought back and fought neck-and-neck for each point and finally managed to beat Bunts Dubai in a thriller by 15-10, 16-10 and bagged the coveted KSSSM Silver Jubilee Trophy.
However, in the ladies final match, Bunts Dubai beat Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha in straight sets 15-06, 15-12 and comfortably won the Trophy.
The special commentator of the day Vinod Shetty added thrill and glamour to the matches with his wonderful and humorous commentary.
Towards the end, there were fun games which added more spark to the silver jubilee celebrations. Young and old enjoyed the wonderful 4 x 100 mtr relay and tug-of-war by the team members.
Relay was held for men and women teams. It was thrilling to watch the relay at the state-of-the art tracks of Abu Dhabi Indian School and all teams ran neck-and-neck. In the men's finals, Mogaveers came first, Pacific Stars second and Bunts Dubai third. Among the ladies' teams, Konkans Dubai came first, Mangalore Konkans second and Bunts Dubai third.
The most thrilling and eagerly awaited sport of the day was tug-of-war. It was indeed fun to watch the strength each team put in while pulling the ropes, leading to exciting finishes. In this fun-filled sport Karnataka Sangha and Mogaveers stood first and second respectively in men's category and KCO and Canara Catholics Fujairah came first and second respectively among ladies teams.
In the concluding prize distribution ceremony, all the winners and runners-up were given trophies. All the referees of the day namely Melwin D'Souza, Jayapala Raj, Dey, Cynthia D’Cunha and Satish Shetty were honoured. The medical team of the day was also felicitated.
Dr B R Shetty thanked each and every one for their whole-hearted participation in the games and for making it a most memorable silver jubilee celebration. He also thanked Sarvotham Shetty and Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha for successfully organizing the wonderful 25th anniversary of Koosamma Shambu Shetty Memorial Throwball Tournament and prayed for the blessings of his late mother on each and every one.