Oman: The 6th edition of the Mangalore Friends Corporate Cup organized by Mangalore Friends Sohar was conducted on 11 December 2015 in Sohar, Sultanate of Oman.
The tournament had 16 corporate companies, 4 schools and 4 ladies team participating in one of the biggest cricketing events in Sohar.
The ladies cricket tournament was introduced for the first time in Sohar. Four teams participated in the tournament. It was a grand success and many more teams showed keen interest to take part in the next edition. The teams which participated are – Guthu XI, Mangalore Catholic Community Sohar, South African Ladies and Mangalore Friends Sohar Ladies Team. In the finals, Guthu XI defeated South African Ladies to lift the maiden Mangalore Friends Sohar Ladies Trophy. In the semifinals, Guthu XI had defeated Mangalore Catholic Community Sohar and South African Ladies got the better of Mangalore Friends Sohar Ladies Team.
In the inter-school tournament, which is being conducted for the 4th year, Bangladesh School Sohar, Indian School Sohar, Pakistan School Sohar and Sohar International School participated. Indian School Sohar won the trophy for the 4th successive time beating Pakistan School Sohar in the finals. In the semifinals, Pakistan School defeated Bangladesh School and Indian School won over Sohar International School.
In the Corporate Cup, SARCO defeated Shamal Plastic Ind LLC in the finals to clinch the trophy for the first time. In the semifinals, SARCO defeated Jindal Shadeed and Shamal Plastic Ind LLC defeated Sohar Beach Hotel.
Sudhir Nayak, the captain of Mangalore Friends Sohar, thanked all the sponsors Mangalore Balaga Sohar, Al Nahdha, Sohar Aluminum, Sohar Beach Hotel, Shamal Plastic Industries LLC, Hassan Abdullah and Partners LLC, Red Bull, Sudhir Kumar – president of Mangalore Balaga Sohar, Richard D’Souza, Harishchandra Acharya, Shaju Harishchandra Acharya, Jagath Pal, Umesh Poojary and Shivaprakash Rai for their continuous support to this tournament.
The Best Batsman was awarded to Deepak Shetty of Shamal Plastic Ind LLC, Best Bowler was Mubeen of Shamal Plastic Ind LLC and the Man of the Tournament was Jeethu Poojary from SARCO.
This 6th edition of the tournament, conducted by Mangalore Friends Sohar, was well attended and the crowd was present until the end of the finals. The organizers introduced the ladies event for the first time and it was a massive hit. Taking note of the overwhelming response received for the ladies tournament, Mangalore Friends Sohar has committed to conduct a one day event for ladies and school boys alone in the future. The organizers ensured that breakfast, lunch, snacks and drinks were available for the whole day. The tournament witnessed huge crowds and was declared a huge success by the players, spectators and the chief guests. Cricket fans of Sohar are eagerly waiting for the next year’s tournament conducted by Mangalore Friends Sohar.