Daijiworld Media Network - Doha
Report by Saeed Assadi
Doha, May 20: The evening at Old Ideal Indian School Ground in Qatar took the 500-odd spectators 200 years back, with a spectacular horse parade, 'kathi atta', march-past with Karnataka flag followed by the mascot of Tipu Sultan's procession. It was the grand opening of KMCA’s 2nd Tipu Sultan Cup Cricket Tournament.
The event started with the recitation of the Quran followed by the National Anthems of Qatar and India. A minute's silence was observed for mourning the victims of the earthquakes that hit Nepal and India, and later, financial assistance to Nepal victims was handed over to Arvind Patil, president of ICBF by Iqbal Manna (special needs co-ordinator, KMCA).
The guests were traditionally welcomed by KMCA children with Arabic dates.
Addressing the gathering, KMCA president Niyaz Ahmed said that the intention behind the tournament is to bring the Kannadiga community together and to keep the community united. "Cricket is a religion in India. Whenver, whatever and wherever a tournament happens, it turns out to be a festival of sorts. It is important that we use such a platform to recognize the talents who have contributed to the country, and hence we have invited Farman Basha and Sakina Khatun who have won various medals for the country," he said.
KMCA, continuing the tradition of honouring sports personalities, felicitated Indian para-athlete powerlifters Sakina Khatun and Farman Basha.
The felicitation of Sakina Khatun was done by Milan Arun and KMCA ladies wing. Sakina Khatun is an Indian powerlifter who won the bronze medal in weightlifting at the 2014 Commonwealth Game. She is the only woman to have won a Paralympic medal in Indian history. Speaking after receiving the felicitation she praised KMCA’s gesture and advised everyone to have a target in life to achieve something which can be recognized by others.
The felicitation of Farman Basha was done by chief guest and KMCA management committee for his contribution in the field of sports. Farman Basha is an Indian powerlifter who represented India at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom. He won a bronze medal at the 2010 Asian Para Games in Guangzhou, China. However, this was later upgraded to a silver medal. He was awarded with the Arjuna Award in 2008. In 2010, he received the Ekalavya Award, and in 2008, the Chief Minister's award for outstanding sportsperson from the governor of Karnataka. Speaking after receiving the felicitation he thanked KMCA management committee for bringing them from India and honouring them. He also praised the unity among the Kannadigas in Qatar.
Delivering the chief guest’s speech, Arvind Patil, (president - ICBF) appreciated the intention of KMCA in holding the Tipu Sultan Cup to bring the communities together and recognize the talents especially the specially-abled athletes and inviting them to Qatar for felicitation. He also praised the idea of displaying photographs of 8 award winners of Karnataka on the stage. He stressed that the same good work needs to be continued.
KMCA, continuing the practice of introducing unique ideas, had a ceremonial bat signed by the guest of honour, and then passed on to all the players and later fixed on a podium. The bat will be gifted to the Man of the Tournament.
Mementos were presented to the participating teams by the guest of honor and the sponsors Hisham of Alfardan Exchange and Satish of Qatar Design Consortium.
Thereafter, the tournament was declared open by lighting a huge bat, wicket prop by the guest of honour and the chief guest. The prop measuring around 12 mt in height was the focus of attention, and well appreciated by the audience.
The MCs of the event were Navin, Saquib Raza Khan and Zufiyan.
Mohammed Isham of Alfardan Exchnage and Satish of Qatar Design Consortium were present on the stage.
Community leaders of different organizations - Ravi Shetty, Deepak Shetty, Abdul Majeed, Norbert Corda, V S Mannangi, Arun Kumar, Milan Arun, Ibrahim Byri, Prabhakar, Abdulla Monu, Seetharam Shetty, Ramchandra Shetty, Asmat Ali, Dr Sanjay Kudri, Alexis Catelino and community activist Iqbal Manna - were present on the occasion.
The sponsors of the event are:
M/s Alfardan Exchange
M/s Saad Alkaabi Steel & Aluminum Co Wll
M/s ALM Infrastructure Solution
M/s SBMK
M/s STS Group
M/s Diplomat Fire Systems
M/s Golden Trading
M/s Qatar Design Consortium
M/s Texas Technical Services
M/s Euro Parts
M/s Gibca Furniture UAE
M/s Stream Acoustic & Thermal
M/s Apollo Enterprises
M/s Hempel Paints – Qatar
M/s New Tradelinks LLC