Daijiworld Media Network - Doha
Report: Ahmed Saeed Assadi
Doha, May 23: The Tipu Sultan cricket tournament, organized by Karnataka Muslim Cultural Association (KMCA), an ICC affiliate organisation, came to a grand end on Thursday May 21, with a superb final match being held between SKMWA XI and Tulu Koota XI, in front of fullhouse crowd.
In keeping with the theme of the tournament, KMCA brought to life the memory of the valiant Mysore Tiger with a vibrant procession. 'Tipu' along with his marchers, led a caravan of 8 Land Cruisers escorting the chief guests and Gguests of honour in a Rolls Royce, and a befitting modern day chariot for the special guests.
The Indian hockey legend, Padmashree Zafar Iqbal, acompanied by Munawwar Haziq was the guest of honour, and Girish Kumar, president of ICC and K M Varghese, president of IBPN were the chief guests. The caravan made it through the ground and onto the pitch and the guests were greeted by KMCA president and the executive committee with the two finalist teams lined up along the length of the pitch.
The guest of honour was led through the pitch, greeted by the players and onto the red carpet lined with Karnataka flag bearers on either sides. He briefly met with the ICC affiliated organisation heads and dignitaries before being escorted to the stage to witness the second innings of the finals. 'Tipu' marched with his escorts to the designated darbar set up befitting his stature.
A spectacular finals unfolded as SKMWA XI chased a respectable score of 113 runs set by Tulu Koota XI in 12 overs, who won the toss and elected to bat first. The match saw some towering sixers by either sides and SKMWA XI completed their successful chase in 9.4 overs with a final six to the cheer of the 500-odd crowd. A complete 360 entertainment for sports enthusiasts was packed into one evening at the Old Ideal Indian School Grounds.
The stage programme of the closing ceremony commenced with the recitation of the Qur'an by Ahmed, son of Shakir Ahmed, followed by a brief introduction to KMCA and its activities presented by master of the ceremony Ahmed Saeed Assadi. The guests were formally greeted with Qatari dates presented by children of KMCA members.
KMCA vice-president Saquib Raza Khan welcomed the dignitaries on the stage, the chief guests, guests of honour, the sponsors, Hameed of AlFardan Exchange and Satish of QDC, the dignitaries off the stage and the spectators.
Padmashree Zafar Iqbal was felicitated by KMCA executive committee followed by a speech by the guest of honour where he appreciated the camaraderie of Indians residing outside of India. He said he was overwhelmed by the honour bestowed upon him by the Indian residents of Karnataka origin in Qatar. He recalled some of his memories from his playing days and how hardwork and dedication had brought him to the national team. He had last visited Doha in 1984 and recalled playing at the Khalifa Stadium of which he shared fond memories. He congratulated the winning team and the runners-up and theorganisers KMCA on creating an opportunity for players to shine and at the same time providing a stage for varied sporting personalities to be recognized.
The chief guests Girish Kumar, president of ICC addressed the gathering next and commended KMCA for the extraordinary show and a successful second edition of Tipu Sultan Cup. He specially emphasized that ICC-affiliated organisations of Karnataka origin are the most active in community engagement. K M Varghese, president of IBPN, congratulated KMCA and said he was delighted to be part of the well organized function and promised continued support to such initiatives.
The vote of thanks was presented by KMCA president, Niyaz Ahmed wherein he expressed that he was overwhelmed by the response and support he had received during the planning of the tournament and felt the need to formally thank each and everyone himself. President Niyaz thanked the chief guests, the guests of honour for their earnest acceptance of invitation for the closing ceremony, the ICC-affiliated organizations for participating with their teams in the tournament, 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, Prakash Rao, Ramchandra Shetty, Asmat Ali, Dr Sanjay Kudri, Alexis Castelino and community activist Iqbal Manna who were present on the occasion. He thanked the sponsors of the event and the executive committee of KMCA, the HBK team and 'Tipu' for running the show two years in a row.
The prize distribution followed with giving away of awards for the tournament officials, umpires - Dr Sanjay Kudri and Imthiyaz, given away by Ravi Shetty, president of Tulu Koota Qatar, the scorers - Amjad and Anand Balu, given away by Abdul Majeed, president of SKMWA, the commentrators - Habibunnabi, Ejaz Ahmed and Naveen, given away by Nazeer Pasha, president of QISF, and the audio technician-cum-DJs, the father and son team of Anil Bolur and Krish who were given the awards by Deepak Shetty, president of KSQ.
The next set of prizes were the individual trophies along with cash vouchers for the runners-up team and the winning team members.
The Man of the Match for the final match was awarded to Imran from SKMWA XI for his unbeaten 50 runs, 1 wicket and a catch.
The Man of the Tournament was bestowed with the Bat of the Tournament. KMCA, continuing the practice of introducing unique ideas, had a ceremonial bat signed by the guests of honour during the opening ceremony, Farman Basha and Sakina Khatun, the Paralympic power-lifters, and then passed on to all the players and later fixed on a podium. The bat was brought to Tipu Sultan by the 'sena pathi' and Tipu handed over the bat to KMCA sports secretary Zia-ul-Haq as a ceremonial guesture of the honour it holds. The Bat was then signed by the guest of honour Padmashree Zafar Iqbal and presented to Namsheed from SKMWA XI who was adjudged the all round best performer of the tournament by the match officials.
A special recognition was bestowed by Zafar Iqbal on Milan Arun for her ardent support to KMCA events, her mentoring of the KMCA ladies wing and especially for her detailed programming of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Tipu Sultan Cup.
The day ended with the giving away of the runners-up team trophy to Tulu Koota XI, received by team captain Ashmath Ali along with the Tulu Koota president Ravi Shetty.
The winners team trophy, the Tipu Sultan Cup, was presented to SKMWA XI team captain Kader along with SKMWA president Abdul Majeed.
Indeed, it was a fantastic ending to a spectacular event.
Tournament sponsors:
M/s Alfardan Exchange
M/s Saad Alkaabi Steel and 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 and Thermal
M/s Apollo Enterprises
M/s Hempel Paints – Qatar
M/s New Tradelinks LLC