Pics by Sasi Stephen
Daijiworld Media Network – Al Ain (SP)
Al Ain, Dec 14: The twelfth edition of the annual Inter UAE Blue Star Family Sports Festival, held in connection with the UAE National Day, came to an end at the UAE University Sports arena here.
The daylong sports meet was officially inaugurated by Major Suhail Rashed Al Neyadi, director of community police department, by lighting the Olympic torch. The torch was received by Neelima Saseedharan, and at the end of the torch relay around the stadium, the Olympic flame was lit by Imad and Aktar, both young athletes of Blue Star. The inaugural ceremony was also attended by Salem Mubarak Al Shamsi, Hamoud Abdul Rahman Al Neaimi and Saif Ali Al Jabri, officers of the community police department, besides Mariam Al Marzouqui, Qasim Ahmad, Rahul, KV Easa, Paul Mathew, Dr KS Mathew, principals of various schools in Al Ain and other dignitaries.
Hope Centre, Indian School Scouts and Guides, Al Ain Juniors School, Youth India Al Ain, Darul Huda Islamic School, New Indian Model School, Mangalore Konkans, KCO Dubai and hosts, Blue Star – Al Ain took part in the colourful march past which followed the inaugural ceremony. Interpretative dance choreographed by Sarah of Global English School and performed by the school students, added colour to the opening ceremony. Prior to the competitions, the oath was administered by Ashwin Anand.
The athletic events kicked off with a special event conducted for the children of special needs of the Hope Centre-Al Ain, in line with the tradition of the Family Sports Festival. The sports festival included various track and field events, besides team events for all the age groups, ranging from KG students to veterans.
The festival also had various fun events for ladies and couples. Individuals and teams from various emirates of UAE attended the festival. The three major team events held on the occasion were, sevens foot ball, Kabaddi and throwball. Twelve teams had competed in the foot ball matches, in which G7-Al Ain emerged victorious with Tyseer Dubai securing the runners-up spot.
The throwball competition held entirely for women, was won by Mangalore Konkans, while Bunts Dubai was pushed to the second spot. The strongly contested Kabadi tournament was won by Black & White Abu Dhabi. Umesh Nagar Dubai team had to be content with the runners-up position. Individual prizes, trophies and cash awards were given to the winning teams, at the end of the day.
Individual championships were awarded at the end of the day, in the closing ceremony presided by Modeen I R, flanked by Noushad Valanchery, president and general secretary of Blue Star, respectively. Adnan Sherief and Megha Jayaprakash won the championships in the sub junior category. The junior champions were Umar Abdul Aziz and Marwa Shahid. In the seniors category, the championships were awarded to Vivek Ratheesh, Mohammed Haroun and Jenny Joseph. In the super seniors category, Rahatullah, Bernard Babu and Zainab Quraishi emerged as champions.
The four-member technical committee comprising Abdulla Koya, Mohd Hussain C P, Unneen Ponneth and Savitha Nayak were honoured, along with scores of other officials of the meet.
The festival was sponsored by Al Fara’a Group of companies, Al Marsad, Lulu Hyper Markets, Welcome Traders, KA Ready Mades, Al Ain Juniors School, Coca Cola, Industrial Engineering Company, Technical Parts, Bharatidasan University, Gulf Gate Hair Fixing and various other companies.