Raajiv Tripathi
DOHA
Many Indian volleyball stars will descend on Doha to thrill the Indian expatriate community during the VoliQ Cup next month.
The Volleyball Loving Indians in Qatar (VoliQ) is celebrating its 10th anniversary by hosting the tournament here from June 18 to 23.
Mohan Ukkrapandian, S Prabhagaran, Akhin, Charles Jerome Vinith, Gurinder Singh, Vinith Kumar, Ajith Lal, Pankaj Sharma, Deepesh K Sinha, Vaishnav, Amit, Karthik Madhu, Manu Joseph, Anup Dcosta, Muthu Sami and Ranjit Singh are some of the 30 players that will be contesting for various Qatar-based teams in the tournament.
The tournament will be followed by a few exhibition matches between Indian and Qatar teams from June 24 to 28, providing both opportunities to fine-tune themselves ahead of the Asian Games.
KMCC, INCAS, GIMS, Ali International and Yuvakala Sahithi are the probable teams that will contest for the top honours. AC Delco and Jaidah Motors have agreed to sponsor the tournament.
Qatar will also take on Azerbaijan team in a series of friendly matches to prepare for the Asia Men's Volleyball Cup, to be held in Taipei from August 8 to 15. Qatar will play in Group C alongside Vietnam, Australia and Thailand.
Qatar clash with Vietnam on August 8 before playing Thailand the following day. They will wrap up the group stage against Australia on August 10.
At the Qatar Volleyball Association headquarters, KM Varghese and Nilangshu Dey jointly released the event promotional brochure.
Mohammed Essa has been made the Organising Committee Chairman of the event which is titled as"Lets Volley."
Organising committee General Convenor Ashique Ahmad welcomed the gathering, which was presided over by VoliQ President Mohammed Najeeb. Also present on the occasion were Essa , KM Varghese, KT Rao, Nilangshu Dey, MS Bukhari, Habeeb Nabi, SAM Basheer, Sameer Eramala, Jaffer Khan, Rukkaya Pachaisa, Yavir Ali, Suresh Kariyad, Lalu KE and Noufal Mohammed Essa.
Various committees have been formed to ensure a smooth progress of the VoliQ Cup.
Patron Council:
KM Varghese (Chief Patron), Azim Abbas, MS Bukhari, Salih Bakel, MP Shafi, PK Abdulla, SAM Basheer, PN Baburaj, Sameer Eramala, Lalu KE, Abdulla Theruvath, Mehaboob Ayani, Ismail Thenankayil, Riyas (Silver Gym), Nizam (Seashore), Anver Sadath (Bridge Way), Huseein al Mufthah (Patrons)
Advisory Board:
Mubarak Eid (Chairman), N. Dey, Davis Edaculathur, Milan Arun (Vice-Chairman), Mustafa NK , Habibun Nabi, KK Usman, Dr. Kareem Rusiya, Dr. Abdul Rahman, Hamza (Members)
Organising Committee:
Mohammed Essa (Chairman), Mohammed Najeeb, Abdulla Keloth (Vice-Chairman), Ashique Ahmed (Gen. Convenor), Renjish P, Haris C, Baiju Madhavan (Convenors)
Finance Committee:
Rukkaiya Pachaisa (Chair Person), Suresh Kariyad (Vice-Chairman), Ashique Mahe (Convenor), Anil Upot (Member)
Technical Committee:
Hussein Imam Ali (Chairman), Yavir Ali (Vice-Chairman), Manoj Kumar (Convenor), Anver RN, Naseem P (Joint Convenors), Ansari, Dhanesh, Shivani Misra (Members).