Report : Celine D Souza
Photographs : Dilip Correa

Muscat, Feb 7: After the phenomenal success of the first version of ‘The Kudla Cup’ in Muscat, an innovative and brilliant sports program of bringing all the communities of the coastal Karnataka region at one venue with one spirit. The phenomenon continued with the second Kudla Cup organized by the Kudla Friends, Muscat on Friday, 3rd February 2012 at Muscat Sports Club grounds, Al Wadi Al Kabir. It was a huge success and greatly appreciated by everyone who attended the event. The relentless efforts and perfect planning put in by Suraj Rebello, Srikanth Shetty and Yuvaraj Salian, the leaders of the Kudla Friends, to unite all the communities of Coastal Karnataka through sports events was a great success. “It was a great function” said the overjoyed Suraj Rebello. “We had a record number of spectators and participants. We express our gratitude to everyone who made this possible.”
 
The Ten teams that participated for the Second Kudla Cup 2013 were

South Kanara Muslim Welfare Association
Bunts
Oman Billawas
The Mangalorean Catholic Centre of the Parish (MCCP)
Beary’s
Muscat Mogaveeras
JSB’S - Konkanas
Viswakarma (Achary)
Kulal Friends
Sherigars

Kudla Cup 2013 was held in different stages. On the 19th of January, 2013 the Kudla cup cricket tournament  was inaugurated at 8 a.m. by Mr. Syed Saleem, Ex Mangalore University Cricket Player, known has tiger of Kudla cricket in Muscat.

On Friday, 1st February at 9 a.m. members in colorful attire comprising of different teams and flags lined up and waved to the enthusiasm of the crowd gathered at the Wadi Kabir sports ground. Suraj Rebello, anchor of the event and one of the main coordinators along with his team members,  Shrikant Shetty & Yuvaraj Salian extended a warm welcome and greeted the much excited crowd. An innovative concept of a march past ceremony was conducted and arranged this year with team captains waving their flags and adding colour, and meaning to our lives.

This message to spread unity among Mangaloreans had crossed the Sultanate where we witnessed newer teams coming forward to participate in the events.  Such was the interest and enthusiasm that the gallery was packed with friends, relatives & family members. Mr. BK Bhat, an ardent sports fan, Propreitor of Al Kaleej Intl. & Bhat International, was the chief guest for the ceremony and he wished every one the most success. On behalf of the Participants Malika of Vishwakarma took the Oath.

In the morning BK Bhat, declared the Volleyball tournament Open. This was followed by the Throwball tournament in the Afternoon. Jaya Ramesh, a prominent Personality of the Mangalorean Community declared the Throwball tournament Open

After the success of last year’s event, members have witnessed a much larger crowd cheering this year some of them even gathered with pom-poms, trumpet and drums to support their teams and have fun and frolic on a cool and pleasant Friday.

The organizers had made every effort to cater to the day’s event with a delicious breakfast, lunch and evening tea with snacks to one and all.

The crowd was then asked to gather for the closing ceremony. Suraj Rebello stressed on keeping the motto ‘United for Stronger Communities’, and in relation to this very motto, a new concept on unifying Kudla was incorporated.it was a great eye-catching scene to see every letter of the word K.U.D.L.A. being pinned on a beautiful crisscross puzzle by one eminent member of each individual community. It was a pleasure and a delight to witness the unity and bond that the committee and coordinators have been wielding to unite the Mangaloreans in Muscat which must be applauded and saluted.

The anchor of the show Suraj Rebello also encouraged members to spread the word around Sultanate to form more teams in the future thereby achieving the main goal and objective of Kudla to unite its members.

After a long day’s event, it was time to reward the victorious teams. Individuals who had contributed towards this event were given mementoes of gratitude and appreciation.
The winners and Runners up were presented with lovely mementoes.

The Prize Distribution was done by Prominent Leaders of the Mangalorean Community and they were Ramesh Shettigar, Henry Martis, Dr. C.K. Anchan, Denis Alva and Jaya Ramesh

Having kept a vigilant watch throughout the tournament on the players, gifts were presented to the Best individual players of the events.

After the Closing Ceremony the crowd left with cheerful smiles and looking forward to many more such events.  One such event will be the upcoming dance, singing and beauty pageant contests to be conducted in the month of May 2013.

An effort to combine the Mangaloreans in Muscat has proven to be fruitful and effective. Special appreciation was extended towards the Coastal Cricket Team, Walter Mendonca, Kirthana Shetty, Vijju Rai, Loveline Rego, Mahesh, Henry Rodrigues, Rajesh, Lancy, Patan, Gautam Adappa, Guru and Arpana,

The excerpts of the  joyful comments expressed by various community leaders are as follows :

Views from individuals

The Kudla Cup 2013 was really fantastic & spectacular. Each athlete participated in the sports activities with utmost joy & fun.  Also audience support was amazing. This marked the unity of Kudla people in Muscat.

- Ajith Walder (VP Sports & Finance-Muscat)

At one set, we, the Vishwakarma community in Oman wishes to congratulate the vibrant Trio Leaders Mr. Srikant Shetty, Mr. Suraj Rebello and Mr. Yuvraj for organizing such a wonderful and remarkable event in the second consecutive years for our Kudla Community in Oman under one umbrella. With wonderful support of the Trio Vibrant Leaders, we the Vishwakarma’s participated in all events in full of energy, very enthusiastic and cheerful way. No doubt it is a GATEWAY to us brought up the hidden sportive Mangalorean personalities.

Our community team has bagged Runners Trophy in Cricket tournament and also in the second consecutive years our community team has awarded the Best Disciplined and Cheering team of the event. Really this event has happened in the way that “WE ARE ONE”. Without the differentiation of caste and creed all the gathered Mangalorean members are treated and respected equally with serving of good food. Never the least this event has been well planned with the great concept adopted by the Trio Leaders, we the Vishwakarma’s solute to you all and pray the Almighty for such event will continue every year so that many more Mangalorean activities and talents will come up. We are proud of you & good luck and assuring our support to you always.

Congratulations to the Kudla Cup Organizers, Suraj, Yuvraj & Srikanth on the brilliant success of Kudla Cup 2013. It was an excellent platform for all the people from Kudla, who enjoyed the matches to the depth, such result is the outcome of the hardwork of the organizers. It will indeed be a day to remember for all Mangaloreans, My best wishes to Kudla Friends for all their future endeavors.  

Gangadhar  Poojari

Congratulations to the trio of Yuvraj, Srikant andSurah Rebello for successfully & professionally conducting the 2nd edition of Kudla Cup 2013. 

The highlight of this years Kudla Cup was the participation of 10 kudla communities compared to 6 last year. I could say the event was a big sucess on the basis of the overwhelming presence of the families, players and their vibration in the ground.  This is a unique concept of uniting communities of our Kudla through sports & having fun . 
Damodar Y Shetty

On behlf of the muslim community, I congratulate the kudla cup organisers, Suraj, Yuvraj and Srikanth, for conducting this wonderful event. We respect your excellent efforts and we expect the same next year. We are always there to support you. Our warm wishes to you all for bringing the kudla communities together under one roof, and we also congratulate the winners and runners up, and thank all the participants for the friendly environment and support. -
Muhammed Shukoor

The Final Results are as follows

Cricket Winners-Bunts
Rajesh Shetty(Captain), 
Ashok, 
Bharath, 
Nithin, 
Shivaprasad
Deepak
Vishal
Ujwal
Dinesh
Damodhar Shetty
Praveen
Rajesh
Prasad
Sachin
Avinash

Manager-Narayan Shetty

Cricket Runners Up-Vishwakarma
Praveen (Captain)
Sandeep
Rohith
Pradeep
Rathan
Krishna
Dileep
Sandeep
Sandeep
Naveen
Sathish
Raghu
Sandeep
Uday
Rajendra

Manager-Sandeep

Best Player for cricket : Mr.Nithin Shetty from the Bunts X1

Volleyball Winners-Muscat Mogaveer
Gowtham Raj
Sharath Kumar
Praveen
Girish
Nithin
Santhosh
Jeevan
Shailesh
Rajesh
Praveen
Ramanand Kunder

Volleyball Runners Up-Oman Billawas
Suraj(Captain)
Prashanth
Sandeep
Shreyas
Sathish
Jithesh
Sachin
Kishore
Prajwal

Best Player for Volleyball : Mr.Sharat Kumar from the Muscat Mogaveer’s

Throwball Winners – MCCP – Muscat

Dolly Gomes(Captain)
Jessie Pereira
Shaila D'Souza
Celine D'Souza
Neema Pereira
Shalet Noronha
Anitha Lobo
Victoria Suares
Shalini Cutinho
Cynthia Mendonsa

Throwball Runners Up – Bunts Muscat

Keerthana Shetty-Captain
Sharmila Shetty
Vindhya Shetty
Lalitha Shetty
Bharathi Shetty
Sujatha Rai
Kripa Shetty
Geethanjali Shetty
Vasudha Shetty
Mookambika Shetty

Best Player for Throw Ball : Mrs. Jessie Pereira from MCCP

Tug of war Men's Winners   -  Muscat Mogaveer
Santhosh Suvarna
Santhosh
Praveen Salian
Girish Salian
Nithin
Shrikant Kotian
Tilak
Puneet
Vivek
Sandeep
Shankar
Ramesh
Sharat
Sujit
Jeevan

Tug of war Men's Runners up – MCCP Muscat
Wilson
Alwyn
Ravin
Lynel
Noel
Vivian
Lovelyn
Clement
Avinash
Rakesh
Roshan
Ajay
Sharon
Sunil
Johnson

Tug of war  Women's Winners - Oman Billawas
Suchitra
Anusha
Jayashree
Prafulla
Anitha
Jaya
Tilothama
Pooja
Madhuri
Priya Shailesh
Sheetal
Deepika
Kavitha
Neel
Shefali

Tug of war Women's Runners up - Muscat Mogaveeras
Sujatha(Captain)
Amitha
Vandana
Jyothi
Sujatha
Shubha
Sahana
Preethi
Shobha
Vedha
Sarika
Chitra
Deeksha
Preethi
Mrs Sandeep

Best discipline and cheerful team - Vishwakarma - Muscat