ALBION
SPORTS F.C ARE KINGS OF ASIAN FOOTBALL
The UK Asian
Football Championships took place this month in Glasgow and proved
to be even bigger and better from the previous years.
The cream of the
Asian football clubs from across the UK took part in a highly
competitive weekend of a highly competitive weekend of football
culminating in the final at Celtic Park - home of Celtic F.C.
.....
.....
The tournament
consisted of 8 teams split into 2 groups of 4 teams split into 2
groups of 4 teams with the winners of each group making the
final.
The competing teams were:
SASA FC: The Club
reached the finals last year.
PUNJAB UNITED:
The club plays in the East Midlands league and has over 200
members.
SMETHWICK
RANGERS: Founded in 1969 the club currently plays in the West
Midlands Regional League Premier Division. The club has won many
trophies.
BLACKBURN UNITED:
The Club is playing in the Premier Division of the Blackburn &
Distict Combination League - It is the first Asian Club to do so,
and had a very successful season last year.
ALBION SPORTS F.C:
formed in 1977 by a group of friends, the club currently plays in
the Bradford Sunday Alliance Premier League and has won many
trophies over the years.
LONDON APSA: The
London based club had a very successful season in 1999, winning
both the Saturday and Sunday Leagues Championships as well as
reaching 2 club finals. To cap it all the club won the UK Asian
Football Tournament as well that year.
LONDON HOUNSLOW:
The Club plays in various leagues in London and has 6 teams
representing it at various age groups. The clubs proudest moment
came when they entertained the Indian National Team.
SPORTING BENGAL:
The East London side was established in 1996 and has rapidly added
trophies to its cabinet. Sporting Bengal are an exciting football
team with some great individuals.
The League stages
were very tight and although Albion Sports topped group B, any one
of the 3 teams from group A could have made the final depending on
the result of the final game of the group.
A draw for
Blackburn United in their final game would have meant that they
would have made the final, however Smethwick Rangers held onto
their 1 - 0 lead for 85 minutes to reach
the final.
The final played
at Celtic Park proved to be largely one sided with Albion Sports
FC from Bradford beat Smethwick Rangers 4 - 1.
“Its been a
great tournament” said Prem Singh Chairman of the UK Asian
Championships committee. “The standards of football has been
tremendous. The teams here are the best Asian teams in the UK and
this weekends display certainly proves that. I’m sure next year
will be even bigger and better”.
Hanif Mogra,
manager of Blackburn United said “Its been a tough tournament
and we’re disappointed at not reaching the final but we are a
hungry team and will be back next year to win the title”.
T-REBLE
GLORY
The Blackburn
Community Badminton League’s eagerly awaited division 1 title
decider was finally played. In a keenly contested match, a superb
performance by Tahir Hussain (T) in defeating Abdul Kherackter
15-6 15-7, landed him the Championship crown. This result also
meant Shafiq Malik finished runner-up in the league with
Kherackter third.
In a remarkable
season, Tahir has claimed a unique treble, having already captured
the doubles title and the knockout cup! He said, “I can’t
quite believe what has happened, it hasn’t sunk in yet! When the
season started I hoped to do well in the doubles with my partner
Shafiq Malik. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to do so
well in the singles too.
Especially after
Shafiq had beaten me easily in the opening match. However, the
turning point for me came in the next match when from a 0-11
deficit against Naeem Ahmed, I somehow pulled it back to win 15-13
and have never looked back since.
The standard has
been very high with the top six players quite capable of beating
each other on the day”.
The second and
third division titles were won by, Shabbir Yusuf and Mohammed
Karolia respectively, who both remained unbeaten throughout the
season.
FORBES
TOURNAMENT IS A HUGE SUCCESS
The Forbes
Blacksnape pre-season tournament is now recognised as one of the
most prestigious pre-season football events in the Northwest. The
event now in its third year was held at Blacksnape over a two day
period and attracted over 100 junior and senior teams. Teams from
as far as Leicester took part in the competition and many visiting
sides departed with winning medals.
The competition
was split into 14 categories and included junior, senior, men and
women’s teams.
The under nines
trophy was lifted by Akzo Nobel after beating Accoute 1 - 0 in the
final.
An impressive
Ossy United won the under 10’s final by beating Accounte B 2 -
0.
The under 11’s
competition saw Colne Clarets taking on Clitheroe Wolves. An exciting
final saw Colne Clarets
win 2 - 0.
Morecambe Youth
beat Boundary Park 2 - 1 in a closely fought final for the under
12’s competition.
The Under 13’s
final saw Foxhall juniors beat Huncoat 2 - 1 in another closely
fought game.
Leicester Nirvana
beat Blue Star in the Under 14’s final. The talented side won 1-
0 but their display impressed everyone.
The under 15’s
final went to penalties and Dynamo Burscough eventually beat Roach
Dynamo to lift the trophy.
Last years
winners Blackburn United were taking part in The Asian Football
tournament in Scotland meaning they could not participate at
Blacksnape. Baba Zaman won the seniors final on penalties after
the game against Anchor finished 0 - 0.
CHARITY TOURNAMENT A BIG SUCCESS
Sunday 8th July saw the 2nd year of the
Christie's against cancer football tournament at Witton Park, Blackburn.
Over 60 teams, nearly 700 players all competing for the winners
trophies. The tournament was split into five sections, seniors,
under 17's, under 14's, under 12's and under 11's.
......
The tournament was a huge success with teams travelling from Preston,
Manchester, Burnley, Bolton and Nelson to take part. A jubilant
Javed Feroze said" This is what Britain is all about. Blacks Whites
and Asians all coming together for a common cause. All rubbing shoulders
in total harmony. The atmosphere today has been electric, the supporters
brilliant and the competitiveness first class. I don't want to dwell
on the recent riots but it just shows that the majority of the people
in Britain want to live, work and play together in a truly multi
cultural society. Also I would like to thank the many local businesses
who have supported the tournament and the volunteers who have worked
really hard."
Although Javed was unsure of the total amount of money raised because
everything has not been collected, he was confident that it was
quite a reasonable amount.
We at Up Front congratulate everyone connected with the tournament
especially our brothers at Asian Image who worked very hard for
this event.
Under 11's
Winners - Blue Star
Runners up - Occoutre
Under 12's
Winners - Bangal Tigers
Runners up - Feniscowles
Under 14's
Winners - Islington Boys
Runners up - Shadsworth All Stars
Under 17's
Winners - Bank Top
Runners Up - OBC Deluxe
Senior
Winners - Baba Zaman
Runners Up - Vasco Degama
BLACKBURN COMMUNITY BADMINTON LEAGUE
Hussain
Triumphs
With the league programme now almost complete the Blackburn
Community Badminton League's attention turned to the knockout
cup.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the semi-finals were contested by the
top four players in the first division.
Shafiq Malik proved to be too strong for Abdullah Chillwan winning
15-5, 15-10, whilst Tahir Hussain came from behind to overcome
Abdul Kherackter 9-15,15-4, 15-7.
In a tense and hard fought final, Malik gained the upper hand
on his doubles partner by winning the first game 15-9. However,
Hussain once again showed his fighting qualities by taking the
next game 15-13, and winning the decider 15-9 to leave his partner
stunned.
It has been a remarkable month for Hussain, who now has a chance
to complete a unique treble. If he wins his final league match
against Kherackter he will also be crowned league champion, having
already captured the doubles title and the knockout cup.
Scores
DOUBLES - FINAL TABLES 2001
| NAME
|
P
|
|
W
|
|
L |
..PTS |
|
|
1. T. HUSSAIN / S. MALIK
2. N. AHMED / S. WADAN
3. A. CHILWAN / A. KHERATKHER
4. S. YUSUF / I. AMIR
5. M. AHMED / B. AHMED
6. MOHSEN / M.PATEL
7. S. ESAT / E. ESAT
|
|
|
12
10
7
7
3
3
0
|
|
0
2
5
5
9
9
12
|
36
30
21
21
9
9
0
|
|
DIVISION 1 - up to and including 16/06/01
NAME
P
W L
PTS
TAHIR HUSSAIN
15
14
1 42
SHAFIQ MALIK
16
14
2 42
ABDUL KHERATKER
15
13
2 39
ABDULLAH CHILWAN
16
9
7 27
NAEEM AHMED
16
7
9 21
SHAHID ZAMAN
16
5 11
15
IMRAN AMIR
16
4 12
12
UMAR BHAI
16
4 12
12
FAKIR SACHA
16
2 14
6
DIVISION 2- up to and including 16/06/01
NAME
P
W L
PTS
SHABIR YUSUF
16
16
0 48
BASHIR MULLA
16
13
3 39
EBRAHIM HAFEJI
16
13
3 39
MOHAMMED LORGAT
16
9
7 27
MUHAMMED MATADAR
16
8
8 24
MASOOD QURESHI
16
4 12
12
BASHIR AHMED
16
3 13
9
SHABIR BANGI
16
5 11
9
MEHBOOB AHMED
16
0 16
0
DIVISION 3 - up to and including 16/06/01
NAME
P
W L
PTS
MOHAMMED KAROLIA
18
18 0
48
EBRAHIM KAROLIA
18
15 3
45
MOHAMMED SIDAT
18
13 5
39
MOULANA USMAN
18
13 5
39
AYUB BAHADUR
18
10 8
30
KHALID ESAT
18
7 11
21
RASHID FULAT
18
6 12
18
ADAM SIDAT
18
4 14
12
ISMAIL SIDAT
18
3 15
9
SALIM DALAL
18
1 17
3
