45-day Chinar Sports Festival concludes Afzal Al Basira beat Rajgan Cricket Club to lift Chinar Super League crown
SHARJAH:
The 45-day Chinar Sports Festival of the divided Kashmiri community living in the United Arab Emirates has come to an end.
In the cold environment of the United Arab Emirates, hot sports competitions took place. Former Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Raja Farooq Haider participated as a special guest.
The Chinar Sports Festival concluded with the final of the Chinar Super League Season 6, which was won by Afzal al Basira.
Afzal al Basira defeated Rajgan Cricket Club by 26 runs to claim the coveted crown.
Batting first, Afzal Basira scored 98 runs in 6 overs while Rajgan CC could only manage 72. Ahmed received the championship trophy from Raja Farooq Haider while Rajgan CC owner collected the runners-up prize. Sarmid Hameed was declared the Man of the Final and the tournament’s best batsman.
Umar Gujjar claimed the Player of the Tournament and the best bowler awards.
As many as 5,000 Kashmiris braved the extreme cold weather to enjoy the Chinar Super League final at the venue.
Kashmiri leaders, especially Raja Farooq Haider, Faisal Rathore and Hasan Ibrahim, paid tribute to the Chinar Sports Festival management.
While addressing the closing ceremony, Raja Farooq Haider said that he could feel the cold winds of Muzaffarabad in the United Arab Emirates. He also shared a memory when he won a cricket tournament as a team’s captain in Muzaffarabad.
while addressing the closing ceremony said that the memory of the cold winds of Muzaffarabad is united. It was fresh in UAE, Raja Farooq Haider remembered his cricket after watching the match, he has won the cricket tournament in Muzaffarabad as a captain.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, former AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider said that if the divided Kashmiris play cricket together, the situation of tension can end. He said that his dream is to have a match between the cricket teams of Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, the players of Barmola to compete with Rawalakot, and the talent of Shopian and Poonch to face each other in the field of cricket.
He appreciated the administration of the Chinar Sports Festival and said that friendly relations can be developed through cricket and the way to deal with climate change has been shown by the Chinar Sports Festival — not only in the region of Kashmir but also globally.
Chinar Sports Festival Chairman Raja Asad Khalid said that during the festival a climate change awareness campaign was successfully conducted with the theme of ‘Save Chinar, Plant Trees’. As part of the campaign trees were planted in Muzaffarabad, Srinagar and Dubai. He said that by planting trees during the Chinar Sports Festival, the Kashmiri community has showed full solidarity with the United Nations Environmental Mission.
He added that it was time for the global community to fulfill their responsibility of paving the way for the reconciliation of the divided Kashmiris without any fear.
Pak Chinar Wing President Raja Amjad Kabir said that Chinar Super League is the only way to unite Kashmiris., adding that cricket can pave the way for diplomacy.
He expressed his gratitude to the media, sponsors and crickets fans and teams for making the event so successful.
Chinar Super League sponsors Sardar Sajid Iqbal Abbasi, Sardar Ayaz Khan and Raja Mohammad Khan also spoke on the occasion. They congratulated the entire team of the Chinar Super League and pledged to be a part of the event again in future.
It should be noted that the official song of the Chinar Super League ‘Chinaroon ke des se uthi avaz hai’ was written and composed by Shehzad Rathore, the Editor of Daily Jammu and Kashmir. The song, sung by Khuram Butt, is making waves in both Pakistan and Dubai.
The entire management team played a key role in the successful conduct of the Chinar Sports Festival. The management team included Chairman Raja Asad Khalid, President Pak Chinar Wing Amjad Kabir, Director Sports Naqash Riaz, Imran Ali Jan, Asad Parvez, Nadeem Hanif, Nadeem Abdullah, Fayaz Minhas Nasir Iftikhar, Raja Shujaat Sabir, Sajjad Raja, Waseem Raja, Babar Khalid, Bilal Zulfikar, Ahsan Afzal, Noman Khurshid, Mohsin Chughtai, Khurram Shah, Khalid Zaman, among others.
It should be noted that without the support of the sponsors, it would not have been possible to bring together the Kashmiri community from across the country in one place and conduct such an interesting event.
Members of the Kashmiri community living in the UAE generously offered their support in organising the event as before.
The sponsors included owner RMK Industries Raja Muhammad Khan, owner Flyhawk Real Estate Dubai Sajid Iqbal Abbasi, owner Silver City Housing Scheme Rawalpindi Sardar Ayaz Khan, Al-Ashaq Group’s Raja Muhammad Ashiq Khan, Al-Aqsa Group Sharjah’s Raja Muhammad Azam Khan, Al Arab Tent Services Sharjah’s Wajid Kabir, Sajid Gardizi, Alf Instrument’s Asif Jabbar, Dr Shafqat Mehmood, Sardar Azim, Maple Group of Companies’ Raja Rashid Ali, Al-Abra Clinic’s Dr. Shafqat Mehmood, Med Clinic’s Dr. Hasnain, Sardar Basit Abid, Sadaqat Abbasi, Sohail Abbasi, B4B Consultancy’s Muhammad Ali, Raja Abdul Jabbar, Sardar Javed Yaqub, Faraz Qayyum Chaudhry, Farooq Banian, Shakeel Chichi and others.
Like the previous seasons, important personalities came from Pakistan to watch the Chinar Super League matches. They included former ministers Sardar Atiq Ahmed Khan, Raja Farooq Haider Khan, sports anchorperson of Geo News Yahya Hussaini, Daily Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Editor Aamir Mehboob, Editor Shahzad Rathore, Maroof Anjum, Shahzad Khan, Raja Farooq Haider’s Secretary Raja Arshad, Sardar Atiq’s Personal Secretary Abdul Jabbar, Crime Reporter of Daily Jammu and Kashmir Umar Butt and singer Khurram Butt.