Monday 25 / November / 2024
Muscat: Team Coorg Muscat A clinched 70th Indian Independence Day Hockey Festival title beating United Thalassery Sports Club (UTSC) 3-2 in the final at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher on Friday.
There were plethora of activities organised by Team Coorg Muscat and Friends of Naqvi Group at the venue commemorating the Indian Independence day.
However, the highlights were the hockey matches for the Independence Day Cup and the Ambassador's Cup witnessed by Indian Ambassador Indramani Pandey, former Oman Olympic Committee Secretary-General Sheikh Soud Al Rawahi, Oman Hockey Association General Secretary Said Nasser Al Darmaki and other dignitaries.
In the opening match, Team Coorg Muscat A (TCM A) defeated the Team Coorg UAE, who made a special appearance in the festival, coming all the way from Dubai.
Tej, Kuttapa and Moni scored as TCM A trounced the visitors 4-1. CB Ponnana scored the lone goal for the team from UAE.
In the second match, Team Coorg Muscat B (TCM B) was easily beaten by UTSC 3-0.
Before the final between UTSC and Team Coorg Muscat A, the match for the Ambassador's Cup was played between Indian School Seeb and Ambassador's XI, which the latter won through penalty shootout.
The final was exciting with TCM A gaining an early 2-0 lead over UTSC, but the latter bounced back to draw parity. However, the Coorg players bounced back in the last moment to notch the winner.
The event also received congratulatory messages from FIH President Leonardo Negre and AHF CEO Dato Sree Tayyab Ikram.
Meanwhile, the festival was also graced by the presence of Aftab Patel, CEO of Al Omaniya Financial Services, Pramod Karajgikar of Waleed Associates, Lateef Shahdad of Mass International (Schindler) and Sanjay Kumar of Abu Qais Decoration & Trading, the sponsors of the festival. They were also felicitated during the event.
There were also special awards for the media persons as well as Nadir Al Raisi, a young Omani who has been contributing for the promotion of hockey in the Sultanate.
Also honoured were staunch supporters D.R Bijilani and Kanchan Bijilani, Indian School Seeb principal Nagesh Kelkar, Indian School Muscat principal Srinivas Naidu and Indian School Darsait principal Sreedevi Pradeep.
A competition for children reciting of the National Anthem was conducted by the ladies wing of the organisers and all the children were presented with certificates.
The organisers also thanked Bellu Kuttapa, Mohammed Raffi, Javis Ahmed and Liju Hassan for their contributions to make the event successful.
The sponsors of the event were Waleed Associates LLC (the main sponsor), Al Omaniya Financial Services, Mass International LLC, Mughali Zaki and Al Mandi Restaurant, Abu Qais Decoration & Trading, Future Engineering & Manufacturing Co LLC (FEMCO), Al Ansari, Quality Printing Press, Oman Oasis, Muscat Pharmacy & Stores LLC (Pocari Sweat), UTSC, Team Coorg Muscat and B.G.
All the hockey lovers of Muscat expressed their sincere gratitude to Chairman of the Organising Committee S.A.S Naqvi and Embassy of India.
