Daijiworld Media Network - Doha
Pics: Sunil Crasto
Doha, Oct 4: Karnataka Muslim Cultural Association (KMCA), an organization affiliated to Indian Cultural Centre under the aegis of the Embassy of India, State of Qatar, organized the 2nd edition of the Bengaluru Cup volleyball tournament for the community organizations of Karnataka origin at the Old Ideal Indian School ground.
The tournament was spread over two days, with the opening ceremony and league matches on the first day and semi-finals, finals and the closing ceremony on the second.
The chief guest for the opening ceremony Seenu Pillai, vice-president and head of premises, Indian Cultural Centre (ICC), was led to the stage by KMCA president Niyaz Ahmed along with Arvind Patil, president, Indian Community Benevolent Fund (ICBF), Hisham of Al-Fardan Exchange, the title sponsor of the tournament and Ashmath Ali of Golden Trading & Decor were led to the stage by the KMCA vice-president Saquib Raza Khan.
The ceremony began with the recitation from the Quran by Fakhir Fayaz Ahmed. The event was compered by Zakir Ahmed. KMCA president Niyaz Ahmed, welcomed all the guests and the audience. The dignitaries on the dais were presented with welcome mementos by children.
General secretary Zia Ul-Haq lined up the six teams, namely:
Karnataka Muslim Cultural Association (KMCA)
Karnataka Sangha Qatar (KSQ)
Mangalore Cricket Club (MCC)
Qatar Karnataka Friends (QKF)
Social Forum – Karnataka Chapter (SFQ)
Tulu Koota Qatar (TKQ)
The torch ceremony held with KMCA general secretary Zia Ul Haq passing on the torch to the team captains and the team owners passed it on to the KMCA logics coordinator Ismail Aboobacker, who then took it to the Bengaluru Cup giant volleyball montage and lit the cauldron and thereby ignited the flame of the spirit of sportsmanship.
At this juncture, KMCA announced a special Award, the 'Late Prakash Chandra Ajila Fair Play Award, named after the late Prakash Chandra Ajila, who was known for his kind and affable nature and his fairness. In memory and respect of this great son of Karnataka, who was also the past president of Bunts Qatar and Tulu Koota, the KMCA president Niyaz Ahmed and the KMCA executive committee decided to present the award to the player of the tournament who displays fair game throughout the tournament. A committee comprising Arun Kumar, Dr Sanjay Kudri and Divakar Poojary decided the winner for the same.
The fixtures were drawn by Arun Kumar.
The guests addressed the gathering and expressed their delight, appreciation and whole-hearted support for community events organized by KMCA. the vote of thanks was proposed by Ibraiz Khan.
The tournament was declared open by the guests with the release of helium balloons.
Day One:
Court 1 witnessed matches between KMCA and MCC (MCC won), KMCA and SFQ (KMCA won) and MCC and SFQ (MCC won).
Court 2 witnessed matches played between KSQ and QKF (QKF won), QKF and TKQ (QKF won) and KSQ and TKQ (KSQ won).
Day Two:
The two semi-final matches was played simultaneously.
Court 1 - KMCA vs QKF - this match was fiercely fought neck and neck, with two sets of action packed camaraderie in which team QKF came out successful and moved to the finals.
Court 2 – KSQ vs MCC, a high energy match between the two teams with two sets of closely fought smashes and lifts, culminating in MCC winning and progressing to the finals.
The break time between the semi-final matches and the final was well utilized to hold the formal stage programme, beginning with Qir’at recitation from the Qur’an. Ahmed Saeed Assadi requested the KMCA president and the vice-president to escort the chief guest K K Usman, president of INCAS along with Divakar Poojary, ICC general secretary.
The 'Mehendi Rang Layegi' event, an all women event organized by the KMCA women’s wing, where local henna artistes applied henna to any ladies and children at the ICC premises, held two days before Eid-Ul-Adha, generated a lot of caring and sharing among the participants and the organizers. The proceeds of the same were pledged to charity in keeping with the tradition of KMCA. The charity envelop was presented by the guests on dais to the special needs coordinator Iqbal Manna and the same was later handed over to ICBF.
KMCA vice-president Saquib Raza Khan welcomed the gathering. The umpires for the tournament Eric Cruz, Edwin Gonzales, Joshua Gonzales and Carlo Nuevo were presented with mementos by the chief guest. The groundsman Ramdev was also felicitated for the excellent preparation of the ground.
Chief guest K K Usman addressed the audience and appreciated the efforts put together by all affiliate organisations in furthering the mission of harmony and peace through sports. He expressed his heartfelt delight in being involved with KMCA and said that KMCA has become a torch bearer for ICC affiliate organisations.
Divakar Poojary addressed the gathering and commended the level of sportsmanship displayed by the athletes and congratulated KMCA on holding such a well organized event. The stage function concluded with vote of thanks by KMCA president Niyaz Ahmed. He expressed his heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the sponsors and supporters of KMCA namely, Al-Fardan Exchange, Euro Parts, Golden Trading, SBMK, ALM, QDC, BIPS, QCON and many others. The president expressed his humble thanks to the various community leaders who graced the occasion and enjoyed the games, namely, Ravi Shetty, Alexis Castelino, Iqbal Manna, Arun Kumar, Milan Arun , Ashmath Ali, Ramchandra Shetty, Deepak Shetty, Abdul Majeed Hydros, Ibrahim Beary, Nazeer Pasha, Seetharama Shetty, Divakar Poojary and Priyajith Gowda, without whose support, organizing community event would not be possible, he said. He also also thanked Sanjay Kudri, who has always made the venue available to KMCA and has brought innovative ideas and Anil Boloor for his support in conducting the tournament.
The final was played between QKF and MCC with a new set of ground rules to stop enthusiastic crowd and team supporters from encroaching the playing field. The two-set game saw fierce fighting for points and fantastic smashes and rallies. The match was won by QKF who were crowned the champions of the 2nd Bengaluru Cup. Both the teams were presented with individual player medals and cash prizes, followed by trophies for the best smasher – Renil (QKF), best lifter – Ansar (QKF) and best all rounder – Sebin (MCC).
The Late Prakash Chandra Ajila Fair Play Award was won by Shakir (QKF).
Mohammed Isham of Al-Fardan Exchange gave away the runner-up trophy to MCC and the winners trophy to QKF.
The prize distribution was done by Ravi Shetty, Abdul Majeed Hydros, Priyajith Gowda, Deepak Shetty, Alexis Castelino, Nazeer Pasha, Arun Kumar and Milan Arun.
The event concluded with a photo session of the teams and celebrations.
KMCA president Niyaz Ahmed and the executive committee congratulated the champions and all the teams on their sporting spirit.
Tulu Koota Qatar continued its environment awareness drive during the tournament.
The event was well attended by a sizable crowd, with large participation from women and children.