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Luton had sports ranging from the classic football to the unexpected rounder’s and a tug of war which was played by girls and boys, women and men and people from all ages. Teams from all across the UK came to take part and nearly all of the teams went home with trophies in hand.
Luton started the day with the traditional under eleven’s football as well as badminton and pool. As the day progressed many matches of all sports were won and lost in all categories which included under fifteens and seniors football, netball, table tennis, rounder’s, badminton, tug of war and pool.
One of the most noticed differences between this tournament and the many we have had before that made this an extraordinary one was the number of female participants in not only netball but nearly all the other sports. Another unusual aspect of the tournament was the way the evening ended. It wasn’t with the typical trophy ceremony straight after playing all the sports but with a bit of Indian dancing, Maher dandya rass performed by the Leicester based team and garba which made the evening even more pleasurable.
Many teams went home proud of their achievements and determined to do even better next time. Luton girls took home not only the Winner’s trophy for netball but runners up as well, they also came runners up in rounder’s and tug of war. The winners of rounder’s were London who also came runners up in Football under fifteens. The man of the match for this category was London’s very own Ashok Modhawadia, this year being his first appearance into Maher sports society. Leicester managed to come either winners or runners up in every football category. They took home the winners trophy for under fifteens and elevens and runners up trophies for Football – seniors’ category. They also won the tug of war competition after hammering Luton 2-0 in the final.
The winners for seniors were the Loughborough all stars whose players Pretesh Sisodia (Pinki) and Vijay Odedra received joint Man of the match trophies from this category, Loughborough also took home the runners up trophies for football under elevens – Jay Rakesh Odedra was given the man of the match trophy as well as Leicester’s Bhavik Parbat Odedra as selectors could not decide between the two.
And that’s only a few of the sports played. Many individuals from all towns took part in Pool, Badminton and Table Tennis. Romi Kunti went home with the winner’s trophy in Pool leaving Karan Kunti with the runners up trophy. There were two categories in table tennis, Adults and juniors. In the adult’s competition the winner was Kishor Modhawadia and the runner up was Vijay Odedra. In the juniors competition Ravi Tereja lost to Shaan Karavadra in the finals. Badminton was the sport with the most categories that was played through to the afternoon. Hitesh Godhania took home the winner’s trophy for the men’s category and runners up in the mixed doubles category, he played with Nilpa Keshwala. Vijay Narbad lost in the finals in the men’s category. Rina Tarkhala won in the Women’s final against Kajal Modhawadia, who also played in the mixed doubles category with Vijay Modhawadia and won. Jayan Tarkhala and Ravi Tereja won against Kishor Karavadra and Dovendra Ageth in the men’s double’s finals taking home the winner’s trophy.
Many would agree with me in saying the whole tournament was a success and left us anxious for another tournament soon to have as much fun and enjoyment as we had at this tournament not only in playing the different sports but also seeing other members of our community.
Article By Sonia Suresh Modhawadia