71st Indian Independence Day hockey festival on Aug 11
MUSCAT: A hockey festival will be organised to celebrate the 71st Indian Independence Day on August 11.
The annual event is organised by the Friends of Naqvi Group and Team Coorg under the patronage of Embassy of India and with the support of Oman Hockey Association.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) and Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) in a joint message have congratulated the organisers and the participants of the event.
FIH President Dr Narinder Batra and AHF Chief Executive Tayyab Ikram expressed their appreciation to the “wholehearted support from the Indian Embassy Muscat with particular acknowledgements to Ambassador Indramani Pandey, Dr Hammad Hamed al Ghafri, Advisor, Ministry of Civil Services, and Captain Talib Khamis al Wahaibi, chairman of Oman Hockey Association, for their invaluable support to make this event a monumental success.”
The organisers, who have been conducting hockey festivals to mark the Indian Republic Day, Independence Day and Dhyan Chand Trophy since 2005, have invited popular names to make the 2017 edition of the festival a grand affair.
Sushma Pandey, wife of Indian Ambassador Indramani Pandey, will preside over the event as the chief guest.
The organisers have also invited the top hockey officials from India, including Hockey India associate vice-president Devender Pratap Singh Tomar and Madhya Bharat Hockey Association manager Niranjan Singh Gurjar, as the guests of honour.
Dr Wahid al Kharuosi, chairman of Oman Cancer Association who also served as the president of Asian Federation of Sports Medicine, Oman Hockey Association chief Talib Khamis al Wahaibi, Indian Social Club chairman Dr Satish Nambiar, Yasser Abdullah al Halwani, vice-chairman of Ahli Sidab Club interim committee, and Oman Hockey Veterans member Mustafa al Lawati will be the guests of honour.
“Its a great honour to have Hockey India officials attending the celebrations and our Hockey Festival will hopefully lead to the Indian officials meeting the Omani officials to further strengthen the relations between the countries,” the organisers said.
“The Indian officials will arrive on August 9 and they are expected to stay in Oman till August 12,” they said.
Team Coorg UAE will be competing in the event for the 12th year in a row.
The festival will comprise two competitions Independence Day Cup and Ambassador’s Cup.
In the Independence Day Cup, UTSC Muscat, Team Coorg UAE, Team Coorg Muscat and Oman Veterans Hockey Team will vie for the top honours. In the Ambassador’s Cup, the Ambassador XI, Indian School Seeb and Indian School Mabella will be in action.
There will also be an women’s exhibition match between Indian School Al Seeb and Indian School Mabella teams.
While there will also be cultural events, including the national anthem recitation competition for children and a performance by Indian School Al Wadi Al Kabir music band, the organisers, under the patronage of the Indian Embassy, will also be presenting the youth awards to the talented youngsters of the Indian community.
This year the awards will go to talented tennis and table tennis player Sanskar Dubey and athlete Antonio Thomas Biju.
This year’s Festival is mainly sponsored by Future Group of Companies and supported by Bank Muscat, Khimji Group, Raha Poly Products, Oman United Insurance, Mohammed Rafiq and Partners, Al Ansari Group, Muscat Services LLC, Al Omaniya Financial Services, Future Plastics, Muscat Pharmacy (Pocari Sweat), Femec, Quality Printers and Oasis Water.