Kuwait’s sporting public witnessed 4 days of pulsating and mesmerizing moments of the beautiful game of Volleyball at the 3rd BLESSEN GEORGE MEMORIAL VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT held in the immaculately laid out Fahaheel Sports Club flood-lit Indoor Stadium, which began on 14 May and ended on 17 May with ACME becoming victorious in a match which lasted five hotly contested thrilling sets.

The 3RD BLESSEN GEORGE MEMORIAL VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT was inaugurated on 14 May by Kuwait Volleyball Association (KVA) President, Mr. Walid A. Aman and General Secretary Mr. Abdulla Al- Enezi. BGFI Chairman Oommen George presided over the function and Event Convener Chessil Ramapuram gave the welcome speech. Felicitation speech was given by the Deputy Chairman of Fahaheel Sports Club, Mr. Rashed Al Kandari. Media & Souvenir Convener Raju Zachariahs rendered Vote of thanks. The matches commenced after that with total six Teams - ACME, RIGGAE VOLLEYCLUB, Kuwaiti Clubs KAZMA and AL JAHRA SPORTING CLUB, BAS (British Academy of Sports), and Amalia Perfumes/Travancore Club.

ACME had seven Indian Players in it’s line-up including five Indian International players charioted by the Indian Team Captain Ukkara Pandy and top Indian Volleyaball Team spiker Prabhakaran, Naveen, John, Vaishnav, Kanakaraj, Raj Kumar, Sarang and Moses. RIGGAE VOLLEY CLUB had nine Indian and Kerala State Players, which included former Indian Captains Tom Joseph and Vipin George, Vimal T. Jacob, Kiran Philip, and Kishore Kumar. Amalia Perfumes/Travancore Sports Club had KSEB, Kerala and Indian Players Shamji K. Thomas, Ragesh, Jamshad, etc. The Kuwait Club Teams KAZMA and AL JAHRA SPORTING CLUB had Kuwait National Players in their line- up such.

The six teams were pooled under two groups, each group having three Teams. The league round was held on 14 and 15 May, in which ACME and KAZMA Teams topped Group A and Riggae and Amaliya Perfumes /Travancore Club Teams topped Group B. All the League matches were tightly contested.

AWARD PRESENTATION TO SCHOOL CHILDREN

Before the commencement of the semi Finals on the 3rd day of the tournament, BGFI in fulfillment of it’s objective of encouraging youngsters talented in sports gave away Mementos to 24 outstanding sportsmen and sportswomen nominated by Indian Schools in Kuwait. The nomination of candidates and presentation of awards were organized and orchestrated by the BGFI Public Relations Coordinator, Mrs. Usha Dileep.

SEMI FINALS

The first Semi Final was played between KAZMA CLUB and AMALIA PERFUMES/TRAVANCORE SPORTS CLUB, which was won by KAZMA CLUB in 3 straight sets with the score reading 25-23, 30-28, and 27-25.

The KAZMA CLUB won the match by their all-round excellence. For KAZMA CLUB, Musaid Abdulaziz was outstanding and his powerful smashes hit the opposing Court unchallenged. For AMALIA PERFUMES/TRAVANCORE SPORTS CLUB, Shamji K. Thomas, Santhosh and Jamshad were outstanding.

The second Semi Final was played between last year’s finalists ACME Team and RIGGAE CLUB, and lasted 5 memorable sets, which kept the crowd on the edge of their seats forcing them to stay on and watch until the end of the match. The match turned out to be a seesaw battle between two evenly matched Teams with both Teams winning two sets each. It was virtually a match between two Indian Teams with both the Teams having Indian Players present and past in their line-up, which showcased all the skills and beauty associated with the game of Volleyball. Finally ACME won the match with the score reading 28-30, 25-19, 25-21, 27-29, 15-10

In the Semi Finals former Indian captain and nine times Arjuna Award nominee Tom Joseph, Vipin George and Kishore Kumar played exceptionally well for RIGGAE VOLLEY CLUB, and revealed their outstanding skills and class. For ACME Team, Ukkra Pandy, Prabhakaran, Raj Kumar and Moses were outstanding.

SOUVENIR RELEASE

In between the two semi-final matches, the Tournament’s Souvenir was released by the ACME Chairman, Mr. Ahmed Al-Enezi by collecting a copy of the Souvenir from Souvenir Convener, Raju Zachariahs and Vice Chairman, Sam George.

LOSERS’ FINAL

The Losers’ Final was between RIGGAE VOLLEY CLUB and AMALIA PERFUMES/TRAVANCORE SPORTS CLUB Teams, in which RIGGAE VOLLEY CLUB emerged victorious in three straight sets with the score reading 25-23, 30-28, and 27-25. Tom Joseph and Vipin George were the stars of the match for RIGGAE VOLLEY CLUB while Shamji K. Thomas played brilliantly for

AMALIYA PERFUMES/TRAVANCORE SPORTS CLUB.

FINALS –ACME CLINCHES VICTORY

The final match was played between ACME Team and KAZMA CLUB and watched by an unprecedented crowd, never seen at a Volleyball Tournament in Kuwait. The match lasted five thrilling and exciting sets with both the Teams fighting vigorously and displaying all their skills, passion and determination with brilliant smashes, strong defense and impregnable blocks to win very point. KAZMA won the first set with 30 points against 28, ACME won the second set with 25 points against 21, KAZMA recovered to win the third set with 25 points against 21. The fourth and fifth sets were won by ACME eventually emerging as winners of the Tournament.

ACME’s Spiker Prabhakaran was outstanding with his thunderous and indefensible smashes and won the applause and admiration of the crowd for his brilliant performance. All the ACME Team players performed brilliantly for the victory of the Team in which Captain Ukkra Pandy, and Naveen played a major role apart from Prabhakaran. For KAZMA, Musaid Abdulaziz, Ahmed Jaber, Messal Al Omar, and Abdulaziz Shaker, were outstanding.

It is the second time ACME wins the Blessen George Memorial volleyball Tournament. KAZMA CLUB was the favorite to win the Tournament and they fought very hard till the end, but, alas, it was not their day. Despite defeat KAZMA CLUB won the hearts and admiration of all for their exceptional sportsmanship and cool and gentle manners on and off the Court.

After the match, the award presentation ceremony was inaugurated by Indian Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, Mr. Subhashish Goldar. BGFI Chairman, Mr. Oommen George presided over the function. BGFI presented Mementos to Kuwait Volleyball President, Mr. Walid A. Aman, General Secretary, Mr. Abdulla Al-Enezi, International and Asian Handball Federation member, Dr. Ahmed Abu Al-Lail, Fahaheel Sports Club Deputy Chairman, Mr. Rashed Al Kandari and other officials of KVA and Fahaheel Sports Club in appreciation of their support to BGFI. Kuwait Volleyball Association and Fahaheel Sports Club presented Mementos to Indian Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, BGFI Chairman, Secretary General Benny Pathanamthitta, Event Convener Chessil Ramapuram, and BGFI Directors, Binu John Philip and Advocate Rajesh Sagar in appreciation of their efforts in organizing a great Volleyball Tournament.

The winners’ Trophy and Cash money of KD. 1000/- to ACME Team was jointly given away by Kuwait Volleyball Association President Mr. Walid A. Aman, BGFI Chairman Mr. Oommen George, and the highly respected leader and senior personality in the Indian community, Mr. M. Mathews, popularly known as Toyota Sunny to ACME Partner and Vice Chairman, Mr. Binu John Philip. The first Runner-up Trophy was presented to KAZMA CLUB Captain by Vice Chairmen Mr. Aby George and Mr. Sam George and cash money of KD. 500/- was presented by Director Board Member, Mr. Ajith Panicker on behalf of the sponsor, MERIT INTERNATIONAL. The second Runner-up Trophy and prize money were presented to RIGGAE VOLLEY CLUB by Adv. John Thomas on behalf of United Indian School and Thomas Chandy MLA.

KAZMA CLUB player, Mr. Musaid Abdulaziz was adjudged as Player of the Tournament for his excellent performance throughout the Tournament. Mr. Prabhakaran of ACME Team was adjudged as Man of the Matc