Report: Koni Prakash Naik
Pics: Hemanth
Muscat, Nov 17: The much-awaited international volleyball tournament Muscat Mogaveera Cup - 2015, organized by Muscat Mogaveera Koota (MMK), sponsored by patrons of Mangalore Spikers and under the auspices of Muscat Sports Club concluded on November 6 with much fun and frolic. It was the first of a kind tournament wherein all 10 teams fought for the coveted trophy and cash rewards on November 5 and 6.
Teams that participated were: Team Sohar, Mangalore Spikers, Mushtaq Club Pakistan, Sohar Club, MIP 'A', MIP 'B', MIP 'C', Misbah Muscat, Dubai Challengers and UFSC Friends.
The tournament was held at the indoor volleyball stadium of Muscat Sports Club at Wadi Kabir, Sultanate of Oman. It was organized by MMK as part of silver jubilee celebrations which is slated to be held on 27th November 2015.
The weather was pleasant and the excitement and enthusiasm of members and players was abundant. At 8am on Thursday November 5, Prakash Naik, vice president of MMK along with Jaya Ramesh Shettigar began the event with a welcome note in the presence of distinguished guests, playing teams, committee/sub-committee members and hundreds of sports enthusiasts. Naik also threw light on the Mogaveera Silver Jubilee Volley Ball Tournament and the idea behind 'Mogaveera Cup-2015'.
Inaugural ceremony:
S A S Naqvi (Olympian, NIS Patiala, India), sports consultant of Oman Hockey Association, officially inaugurated the event by cutting the ribbon and releasing the ball. He was accompanied by distinguished guests, Dr Satish Nambiar, chairman, Indian Social Club, Muscat, G V Ramakrishna, head national sales and expat services, Bank Muscat, Nabil Ali Al Balushi, partner Majan Events Group of Companies and Shaikh Kaleem Saheb, MD Majan Events Group of Companies. Hundreds of members, spectators from the sports fraternity from all communities cheered the opening ceremony. Thereafter, all the distinguished guests had fun volleying the ball for some time to mark the beginning of the matches.
At the beginning of the inaugural ceremony all the distinguished guests and representatives of various Mangalurean communities and Karnataka organizations were presented with a floral bouquet as a mark of respect.
The first round of matches shot off with an exhibition match played between Mangalore Spikers and Sohar team. On the first day 5 matches were played and at the end one team got eliminated and four teams qualified for the second round of matches which were to be played the next day.
The remaining matches commenced at 4 pm on Friday November 6 and continued till late night/early morning of Saturday. The indoor stadium was fully energized with an excellent display of sportive action. While the players enjoyed playing, the spectators enjoyed watching. Presumably this was the first time a private group organized an international volleyball tournament of this magnitude in Muscat, Oman. Kudos to Muscat Mogaveers.
A spectacular show of volleyball action was witnessed on two nights and it was no doubt a thrilling experience to one and all. The effect of this tournament will be cherished by all who experienced it for a long time.
Star attractions Anup D’Costa, a highly acclaimed Indian national volleyball player, Ashwal Rai, Karnataka state volleyball player and Dhanraj Amin the very popular libero (defensive) player from India who flew in to Muscat specially to strengthen the team of Mangalore Spikers proved their metal with sheer professionalism. Anup D’Costa, Ashwal Rai and Dhanraj Amin exhibited their wonderful skills and left the spectators in awe of their spike, lifts, smashes and judgement. As the evening drew close, fantastic matches kept rolling, one after the other.
Winners
The tournament ended on the 6th night with the finale of final match between Mangalore Spikers and Sohar Team. After a close battle and nail biting finish Mangalore Spikers finally clinched the winner’s trophy. Team Sohar bagged the runners-up trophy. The third and fourth place went to Team Misbah and Team Sohar Club respectively. Best Smasher: Ashwal Rai, best allrounder: Anup D’Costa, best lifter: Adam from Team MIP 'B', best libero: Dhanraj Amin.
Prize distribution ceremony
The following distinguished guests graced the prize distribution ceremony:
1. Amur Bin Humaid Bin Abdullah Al Tuqi- general secretary, Oman Volley Ball Association.
2. Ahmed Saeed- Oman Volley Ball Association.
3. Majid Bin Said Al Wahaiby- general secretary- Muscat Club,
4. Sheikh Kaleem- MD- Majan Events Group of Companies.
Dr Shekhar Salian – president of MM Koota, Muscat, honoured the distinguished guests with mementoes for their ardent support, encouragement throughout and their gracious presence. Jaya Ramesh Shettigar was presented and honoured with a memento for her excellent compering throughout the tournament.
Guest players, Anup D’Costa, Ashwal Rai and Dhanraj Amin were also duly honoured with mementoes.
Vote of thanks:
The organizers thanked all the members of the sports team for providing, assisting, participating and encouraging the conceptualization of the event to the successful finale of the Mogaveera Cup Indoor Volley Ball Tournament.
They thanked the teams, ground managers, referees ( Mohd Al Amry and Moosa), scorer, commentators, volunteers, spectators, photo/videographers, sound and light, DJ, stage setting, artwork, printing and all the support staff.
They also extended a special thanks to sponsors Oman Oasis for providing water and juice, Muscat Pharmacy for providing Pocari drink, sweets of Oman for providing chocolates and Nagesh Shetty for arranging freezer, Times of Oman, Oman Observer, daijiworld.com for media coverage.