Report and Picture by Ahmed Saeed Assadi

Doha, Sep 28 : Karnataka Muslim Cultural Association (KMCA) an affiliated organization to Indian Cultural Centre under the aegis of the Embassy of India, State of Qatar, organized a volleyball tournament for the affiliated community organization of Karnataka Origin here in Doha, Qatar at the Old Ideal Indian School ground at a purpose built volleyball court.

The tournament was spread over two days, with day one being the opening ceremony and the fixtures and day two saw the semifinals, finals and the closing ceremony.

As is become a tradition with KMCA, the opening ceremony saw a renowned and historical king of Karnataka, Sri Kempegowda being remembered with an avatar of his embodiment being brought onto a throne through a procession led by a horseman with a cavalry of guards.

The guests of honour for the opening ceremony were Khalid hussain Al-shammari, Administration Manager, Rayyan Community Police, the Team Manager of the Qatar Volleyball Team for 13 years, who was led to the stage by KMCA President Niyaz Ahmed and the second Guest of Honour, Yavir Ali, An Indian National Volleyball Player represented India at the Asian Games in 1998, who was escorted to the stage by the KMCA VicePresident Saaqib Raza Khan.

 The chief guest for the evening, Sinu Pillai, ICC General Secretary was led to the stage by KMCA General Secretary Ibraiz Khan. They were greeted on stage by KMCA Sports Secretary Zia ulHaq.

The ceremony was opened with the recitation from the Qur'an by Miss. Rania Muneer and the event was compared by Sheriff. KMCA president Niyaz Ahmed, welcomes all the guests and the audience and in keeping with the KMCA tradition, presented on behalf of the guests, a token in cash,in lieu of bouquets, to Qatar Charity.

The guests addressed the gathering and expressed their delight, appreciation and whole hearted support for community organized events by KMCA. The Torch ceremony was held with the KMCA Sports Secretary Zia UlHaq passed the torch baton to the Team Owners and the Team owners passed it on to the King Sri Kempe Gowda. The King then handed the torch to his soldier, the horseman, who rode to the Torch's Final location and lit the cauldron thereby igniting the flame of the spirit of sportsmanship. Vote of thanks was rendered by Masooda Mohd. Ali., representative of the KMCA women's wing.

The fixtures were drawn and the tournament was declared open by the guests with a release of helium balloons.

Day One matches saw Mangalore cricket club (MCC) win first game 2-1 against Team KMCA in a spectacular three set match. KMCA defeated Team Tulu Koota and MCC defeated Team Tulu Koota in Group A. Team MCC and Team KMCA qualified to the semis. In Group B, Team South Kanara Muslim Welfare Association (SKMWA) defeated Team Karnataka Sanga Qatar (KSQ) 2-0 in a spectacular dominating game. Due to unavailability of Team Bunts Qatar, KSQ was given a walkover and entry into the Semis along with SKMWA.

Day Two matches saw MCC playing KSQ in a straight sets defeat of MCC by KSQ in closely fought battle to reach the finals. The second semi final was played between team KMCA and Team SKMWA and this match was fiercely fought with neck to neck point scoring 3 sets of action packed camaraderie in which team SKMWA came out successful and moved to the finals.

The finals was played between Team KSQ and Team SKMWA with new set of ground rules to stop enthusiastic crowd and team supporters from encroaching the playing field. The first set was won by KSQ in a tie breaker, the second set was all dominated by Team SKMWA but nicely leveled by Team KSQ but won SKMWA thereby leveling the best of three and setting up an ultimate finale for the audience. The third set was dominated by KSQ with straight six points lead leaving SKMWA to play a catchup game and ultimately losing a finely won game and finals by KSQ.

The teams were presented with individual player trophies, followed by the best swipper, best lifter and best overall player trophies and then the team captain and manager were presented the runners up trophy to Team SKMWA and Winners trophy to Team KSQ.

The event was 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 for their sporting spirit. Niyaz ahmed noted and expressed his heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the sponsors and supporters of KMCA namely, 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, Ramchandra shetty, Mannangi, Deepak Shetty, Sunil, Abdul maned hydros, Ibrahim Beary, Prakash Ajila, Seetharama Shetty, Divakar Poojary, Alex Castelino, Iqbal Manna. Without their support, organizing community events are not possible. Also, Sanjay Kudri, who has always made the venue available to KMCA has bought into the innovative ideas, allowing KMCA logistics Coordinator Ismail Aboobacker to prepare the field and erect structures for the rejuvenation of Karnatic Epic characters that KMCA wants to bring back to living memory to preserve our history and keep it alive among the younger generation.

The event was well attended by the presence of a sizable crowd and it was delightful to have large participation from women and children.

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