Al Khobar: MASA Cricket Champions Trophy concludes in style
Victor Sequeira, Puttaraju and Ravi Karkera
Al Khobar (Saudi Arabia), Jul 12: The maiden ‘MASA Champions Trophy 2013’, an open-to-all 10 over Knock-Out Cricket Tournament consisting of 18 teams, in memory of Mayur M Amin was held recently at SWCC / KCL Ground, Aziziya. While inaugurating the Tournament, president Dayanand Shriyan welcomed all the participating teams, DCA official umpires and MASA excom members along with all MASA volunteers. In his speech president emphasized and urged all the players to play cricket with fun and sporting spirit.
Tournament chairman Ravi Karkera proudly mentioned that this is a prestigious tournament ‘played for a noble cause’. Masa Champions Trophy 2013 is the First External Cricket Tournament conducted by MASA in memory of Mayur M Amin, son of ex-president Madhav Amin mainly sponsored by M/S Al Manafa Transport Services Co. Captains of the team introduced their players to the guests of honour. A minute's silence was maintained in memory of Mayur Amin before the start of play. Ravi Karkera declared the beginning of the tournament upon three balls batting by sponsor Madhav Amin, bowled by president Dayanand Shriyan and keeping by general secretary, Naveen Bhandary.
18 teams were: Karavali Cricketers, Master CC, Khobar United, Puttur XI, Cornich Blue, United Lanka
Nesma, KFC, SASP, Blue Star, KCL Amps United, AMACO, Eastern Arabia, Al Falah SAB Middle East, Intermodal XI, Eastern Blue and Al Anwar.
The temperature of 45 degree centigrade heat did not stop the enthusiastic cricket lovers to play their passionate game of cricket. The teams tried their best to move on to next levels. The spectators were treated to most exciting cricket matches with nail biting finishes of some teams. The match between Master CC vs Karavali Cricketers went into a super over. Masa volunteers did their best in beating the heat by serving water and soft drinks to all.
Quarter final, semi final and final matches took place on day 2, on Friday July 5. All participating teams supported well and played with immense sporting spirit. The day was action packed and exciting.
Although all semi-final and final match teams threw up an amazing array of cricketing talent in the entire series, the final match was the most memorable of all for its frantic pace and its unexpected twists and turns.
With their great team work, it was SASP - Jubail and KCL AMPS United who made it to the final and SASP Jubail succeeded in winning the maiden MASA Trophy “MASA Champions Trophy 2013”
Sponsors:
Main Sponsor: Joey Fernandes of M/S Al Manafa Transport Services Co.,
Sponsor: M M Amin Partners and Co
Co-Sponsors: Al Abdul Karim Holding Co, SASP Jubail, Eagle Travels, Riaz B K, Richard D’ Silva of M/S Arabian Cargo, H S Steel Engineering LLC, Dunes International School, Shankar Billava, Prabhakhar Puthran, Dayanand Shriyan, Ravi Karkera, Mohan L Poojary, Keshav Arikady, Santosh Shetty, Naveen Bhandary, Ameer Husain and Group, Sukumar Shetty and Group, Sanil Brothers and Group, Al Raqwan Trading Co, Ahmed Gulam Beary, Well Wisher, Lancy D’ Souza and Mohammed Nooman
Ground facility and support - KCL and SWCC officials
Official Umpires: Mohd Siraj, Rajgopal, Umarabba and Mohideen from DCA. Ibrahim Khader, Naushad Polya, Rahim Arkula, Nayaz Ahmed, Sharief Karkala, Santhosh P Shetty, Sandeep Shetty and Nizamuddin from MASA
Scorers: Bhaskar Kanchan, Shakib Ahmed, Rajesh T, Nagaraj Bajal, Nishit Shetty, Santhosh Kulal, Ranjit, Bharat and Ajay Shetty
Tournament organizing team: Viraj Shetty (live wire), Praveen Peter Aranha (alert), Sathish Bajal (proactive), Narendra Shetty (resourceful), Arun D’ Souza (dynamic) were the ground incharge supported by Ameer Hussain, Rajesh Suvarna, Roopesh Suvarna, Victor Sequeira, Ahmed Gulam Beary, Uday Kumar Sanil, Naveen Bhandary, Santhosh Shetty, Dayanand Shriyan, Madhav Amin, Puttaraju, Naveen Vijay, Sadashiv Poojary, Prakash Sanil, Harish Poojary, Edwin Martis, Dayanand Chowta, Sukumar Shetty, Riaz B K, Chandrashekar Karkera, Sunil Shetty, Pradeep Kadekar, Sadanand Poojary, Sudarshan Sanil, Babu Kotebettu, Ritesh Sanil, Ashish Sanil, Prateek Poojary and Sunman Karkera.
Ahmed Gulam Beary rendered a tireless service as food and beverages incharge with the support of Mohideen. Uday Sanil was at his best in arranging beverages. Jagajeevan Karkera played a key role as physio and was on his toes throughout the match.
The beautiful banner was designed by Irshad. Dhanraj was the official photogapher while running commentary was given by Mansoor. Media coverage was led by Victor Sequeira and team.
The award ceremony followed the final match. Chief guest Joey Fernandes, guests of honor Madhav Amin, M J Soofi (KCL president), Yogesh Poojary (JCA president), Mohd Siraj (DCA general secretary), Ahmed Gulam Beary (MASA vice-president), Ravi Karkera (tournament chairman) were invited on the dais by general secretary Naveen Bhandary.
Prizes were announced by MASA assessment committee head Santhosh Shetty. Chief guest Joey Fernandes presented the winner's trophy, gifts and medals to 14 members of the winning team. Guest of honour Madhav Amin presented the runner-up trophy and medals to 14 members of the runner-up team. Attractive raffle prizes were drawn for participating teams and the audience during the prize distribution ceremony. Vote of thanks was presented by joint secretary Vidyadhar Shetty. Tournament chairman thanked all participating teams, sponsors, umpires, scorers and MASA volunteers for the success of the tournament. He also offered his special thanks to tournament incharges Gopal Shetty (architect of the tournament), Vidyadhar Shetty (backbone of the tournament), Sharief Karkala for extraordinary support and Mohd Nooman for playing an instrumental role in the success of the tournament.
Player of the tournament title was awarded to Safdar of SASP, Jubail. He was honored with a trophy and return flight ticket to home country.
Once again, MASA proved its strength and capability in handling mega events in a grand style.
