ibak journey 2010/13

The IBAK (Indian Badminton Association-Kuwait) story holds true to the two adages oft., used,

“Necessity is the mother of invention” and “If there is a will there is a way”. What was a quest to fulfill

the desire to play badminton on a regular basis turned out to become a driving force and in the pro-

cess, scripted a new chapter in the badminton scene of Kuwait. When the small group of dedicated

and badminton crazy individuals met for the first time, little did they realize that they would be echo-

ing and bringing to fruition a long felt desire by the Indian community to play and involve in badmin-

ton on a regular basis.

When the different possible venues were scouted, a lot of resistance and obstacles were crossed. The

journey finally started on a fine morning on the 16th of April 2010. The official recognition by register-

ing the Association with the Indian Embassy of Kuwait was obtained on the 14th of April 2010. The

Ambassador of India to Kuwait, H.E, Shri Ajai Malhotra, commenced the journey at the Qadsiya Club

premises in Hawally and the speed with which a lot of feathers were added to the IBAK crown, aston-

ished many and started a wave of followers. The numbers went from 100 at the time of registration to

150 at the time of inauguration and has threatened the 600 mark on current standing.

The venue changed to a more permanent daily practice venue in the Saad Ibn Al Azz School at

Mishref and Tournament venue at The Taekwondo & Judo Federation in Sabah Al Salem. The goodwill

created by the movement opened many doors, a feat, and unparallelled by many previously existing

badminton associations in Kuwait. The journey, under the patronage of the Ministry of education

moved into a permanent home at the Saad Al Awzi School premises, Salwa. The first nine court facility

for Badminton on a wooden surface drew the envy of many and a place for enjoying badminton with

the whole family was thus a reality.

IBAK added another feather in its crown by providing a structured coaching module which involved

training by renowned badminton coaches from outside the country and a team of dedicated and com-

petent badminton players from Kuwait. This was another ‘first’ in Kuwait and the first module saw 80

enthusiastic budding players join the module. IBAK’s promise is to nurture the talented badminton

loving youngsters and mold them to be future stars, who will make us proud and the will, is definitely

showing the way forward.

IBAK has successfully conducted many tournaments and has also opened its doors to badminton en-

thusiasts from other parts of the world to make it a large hearted body that supports the like-minded

interests of all concerned in Kuwait. IBAK has, under its umbrella, provided a perfect platform for in-

teraction of the badminton community and has brought them that much more closer to one another.

Through regular recreational activities, the IBAK family has grown closer and stronger.

This booklet provides the journey taken by IBAK from its inception till end of 2013.

Manimara Chozhan

Chairman- IBAK

THE IBAK JOURNEY (2010 -13)

IBAK STORY

New badminton organization appeared on Kuwait’s horizon 16th Apr 2010, Friday morning with the inauguration of the Indian Badminton Association – Kuwait (IBAK) at the Qadsiya Club. The inauguration

was a simple yet well-organized event attended by a large number of Indian badminton players, guests and the Indian Ambassador to Kuwait Ajay Malhotra as the chief guest. The event started with the

inauguration of the traditional lamp by the Indian Ambassador, assisted by Uma Maheshwari, Annie Thomas and Surraiya Foizen followed by a welcome address by Induja, the executive associate of the

Public Relations Committee of IBAK. Induja started her address by welcoming everyone to the event. She

then introduced the president of IBAK, Dr Manimara Chozhanan - who is popularly known in the badminton and Indian circles as Dr Mani.She said that Dr Mani was the inspiration behind the

organization. Starting with a membership of just six on March 7, 2010 and climbing to over 150 within five weeks. Mani also told the audience that IBAK had already been recognized and registered by the

Indian Embassy in Kuwait. Ambassador Malhotra offered the embassy’s full support to IBAK and hoped

that the organization would be a platform for the development of more opportunities for more people to enjoy the sport. He added that IBAK would be a starting point for the same. He wished the organization

well and promised that the Office of the Ambassador would be a Patron Member and support the cause of IBAK.

The office-bearers of IBAK are as follows:

President: Dr Manimara Chozhan

General Secretary: Thomas Moolayil

Secretaries: Mathew Jacob (membership), Sunil Moorkanat (public relations),Puskaraj Altekar (event

management), Faheem Contractor (media) and Chandra Mouli (courts and coaching).

Joint Secretaries: Anil Lakhotia (membership) and Tabish Babu (courts and coaching) Executive Associate membrs: Hari Gadikota, Induja, Jimmy Jose Aricat, Mohammed Sirajudeen, Mohammed Arief, Noor

IBAK Inauguration - APR 2010


The 1st IBAK Tournament a doubles event called the IBAK Cup was conducted on April 2010. This was

conducted in different tier levels which are Yellow (Beginners), Green, Red, Blue (professional) Tiers.

Each Tier had Advanced (A) and Intermediate (I) Players.

Inaugural Cup Winners :

Blue Tier

Champions Dr. Biju Mahadev & Suresh Ramachandran

Runners-up Mallu Chandramouli & Srinivas Reddy

Red Tier Champions Abhijit Dutta & Unnikrishnan

Runner-ups Hari Gadikota & Gautam Thakur

Green Tier

Champions Marianne Salunga & Sunand Nair Runner-ups Mohammed Khan & Ronnie Joseph

Open Category

Champions Suresh Ramachandran & Bader Kalliparambu

Runner-ups Mallu Chandramouli & Ravishankar

Sponsors of the tournament : UAE Exchange Center WLL.

IBAK 1st Tournament – APR 2010


It was a day of mouthwatering clashes, full of outstanding smash and cross court drop shots when some of the premium players in Kuwait convened at Qadsiya Complex for the 2nd Indian Badminton

Association - Kuwait (IBAK) tournament.

Winners 2nd Open Tournament: Blue Tier

Champions Jabbar / Ravi

1st runners-up Bader / Noor Red Tier

Champions Shyam / Vijay 1st runners-up Sajith / Unni

Green Tier

Champions Binal / Sanu 1st runners-up Sai / Rony

Yellow Tier Champions Aun Foizen / Faiz Foizen

1st runners-up Rajat / Vivek Orange Tier

Champion Rishan

1st runner-up Sai Balagopal

Chief sponsor Kout Food Group and Associate sponsor Taiba Hospital.

IBAK 2nd Tournament – May 2010

Jabbar and Amith put all their skills on display to take the Blue Tier title while Shyam and Vijay won the

Red Tier championship when the Indian Badminton Association - Kuwait (IBAK) in One Day Tournament at the Qadsiya Complex, Friday. The tournaments were divided over different categories called tiers,

with Blue Tier having the most experienced players followed by the Red Tier, Green Tier, Yellow Tier and finally the Orange Tier composed of the beginners.

Winners:

Blue Tier Champions Jabbar / Amith

Runners-up Suresh and Manu Varghese Red Tier

Champions Binal / Sanu

Runners -up Sajith /Unnikrishnan Green Tier

Champions Saidevanand / Lekha Runners-up Aun Foizen /Faiz Foizen

Yellow-Orange Tier Champions Priya Ullas / Sai Balagopal

Runners-up Santhosh / Fathima Foizen

IBAK One Day Tournament – JUN 2010


The Qadsiya Complex was packed Friday with badminton players of all classes and one could hear fans shouting at the top of their voices as they backed their teams when the Indian Badminton Association -

Kuwait (IBAK) opened their 3rd IBAK Open Doubles Tournament. The tournament has been divided over many tiers with the most experienced taking on each other in the Blue Tier, followed by the Red Tier,

Green Tier and the beginners in the Yellow Tier. The organizers tried to accommodate as many matches as they they could but with the membership of IBAK swelling up really fast, it was only possible for a few

scores to see action over the whole day.

Winners :

Blue Tier Champions: Suresh Ramachandran and Bader

Kalliparambu

1st runners-up: Pushkaraj Altekar and Chandramouli Red Tier

Champions: R. Vijay Shirhatti and Manoj Kuriakose 1st runners-up: Binal and Sanu

Green Tier Champions: Suresh C. Pillai and Biju Chacko

1st runners-up: Mubin and Zakir Hussein

Yellow Tier Champions: Jayaprakash Devraj and Antony Marshal

1st runners-up Sai Bala Gopal and Nithin S.

3rd IBAK Open Doubles Tournament - JUL 2010

The competition was close, the rallies long and all the participants very determined to show their best,

resulting in a number of players sharing the top spot in the Indian Badminton Association — Kuwait (IBAK)- PSC Open Doubles Tournament which kicked off at the Qadsiya Complex in Hawally Friday.

The tournament has been divided into six categories — Blue Tier, Red Tier — Pool A and B, Green Tier

and Yellow Tier Pool A and B – with all the players placed in these groupings according to their game. Blue Tier is the top-most category which includes the best players and the matches being played for a

running score of 21 while the rest of the other classes are seeing competition over 15 points except in

case of a tie when there is a slide to 17 points to decide the winner.

Winners:

Blue Tier

Champions Suresh Ramachandran and Bader Kalliparambu 1st runners-up Jiju John & Bastin James Kanichai

Red Tier Champions Arun Rajagopalan and Mohan

1st runners-up Jim and Gilto Green Tier

Champions Ajayakumar Vasudevan & Prasad Thandachery

1st runners-up Faiz Foizen & Aun Foizen Yellow Tier

Champions Nithin Subramoniam and Nitin Prince 1st runners-up Neha Satish and Shaina Ajaykumar

Sponsors Petroleum Services Co. W.L.L.

IBAK PSC Open Doubles Tournament - OCT 2010


The two day tournament on Friday had four categories: Blue Tier, Red Tier, Green Tier and Yellow Tier

among which all the players had been divided with the Blue Tier being the top category with the most

experienced players and the Yellow Tier showcasing all those enthusiasts who only recently taken to the badminton courts. All classes involved the matches being played for a running score of 21 points.

Blue Tier

The tandem of Ravishankar and Jabbar Farooqi proved that they are the best pair in this two-day

tourney’s highest class when they fought wisely by stepping on the accelerator in the last two sets to

edge Dr Manimara Chozhan and Roman Alekseev 17-21, 21-11, 21-12.

Red Tier Unnikrishnan and Jijo achieved the highest honor in Red Tier when they overpowered Krishnakumar and

Dinesh 21-9, 21-10.

Green Tier

It was a walk in the park for Aravindan and Bharanidharan to get their hands on the Green Tier title when they thrashed Salim Kottayil and Naufal M M 21-9, 21-7.

Yellow Tier

In Yellow Tier, the tandem of Sai Balagopal and Nithin S. bagged the crown when they overwhelmed

Vineeth and Darvin 21-14, 21-19.

IBAK Open Tournament – NOV 2010


This event has been made possible by the IBAK Organizing Committee who are committed to delivering quality matches for all the members and nonmembers.

Blue Tier Blue Tier finals saw Bader and Chandra bag the title when they overcame Jabbar and Faheem 21-14, 21-

19 without having to face too much resistance.

Red Tier In Red Tier, Dhanya and Jijo showed that they were the best pair in this group when they stopped Sajith

and Unnikrishnan 21-18, 11-21, 21-5 to take the championship title.

Green Tier

In the Green Tier, Anand and Pazhani outlasted Salim and Nouf 18-21, 21-16, 21- 13 to walk home with the crown.

Yellow Tier In the Yellow Tier, Vineeth and Darwin overcame Neha and

Satish 21-13, 22-20 to take the title.

Winners Blue Tier – Bader and Chandra

Red Tier – Dhanya and Jijo

Green Tier – Anand and Pazhani Yellow Tier – Vineeth and Darwin

IBAK Year end Tournament - DEC 2010

The tournament was played over the following four categories, Blue, Red, Green and Yellow.The matches

were conducted in league stage, semi finals, and finals.

Further all the categories saw the representation of following 5 groups which took part in the tourna-ment.

IBAK Smashers IBAK Transformers IBAK Power Rangers IBAK Net Raiders IBAK Stealth Fighters.

While the focus of the event was on the team event, the performance of the individual pairs was also

given a lot of importance. The scores of these pairs in the various categories were tallied to arrive at the

team positions.

Final standing of points after the Finals

Group Points

IBAK Stealth Fighters 12

IBAK Power Rangers 6

While the points of the pairs were compiled to get the team standings, semifinals and finals were con-ducted to decide the winners of the Individual/Tier level.

Winners

Blue Tier- Dr. MMC and Vivek had stolen the show as they cruised to the title even after losing the first set. The final point tally was 14-21, 21-16 & 21-17.

Red Tier - Dr. Palani & Biju emerged at the top in the Red Tier with final points as 15-21, 21-17, & 21-16.

Green Tier - In the finals Santosh and Noufal put in a repeat performance of their semifinal game in

straight sets 21-13, 21-15.

Yellow Tier - Satish and Vineeth, put in such a performance that leaving their opponents standing in

their wake as they took the last two sets. The final point tally was 10-21, 21-13, 21-14.

IBAK Internal Tournament - FEB/ MAR 2011


IBAK is now turning its attention to other things, like arranging top-class coaching and having practice

sessions throughout the week while keeping all the players on their toes through well organized tourna-

ments. The IBAK coaching camp, which is called Coaching Module 1, was opened after a grand inaugura-tion ceremony by Principal of the Saad Al Awzi School, Mr. Saeed Khalaf Al Farhan who has been offering

IBAK a lot of support in every way that he can to ensure the success of the event.

The coaching module ran for three months with Abraham Kuriakose the first overseas coach. The coach-ing focussed on members in the 8-18 age group and was held between 1700 to 2000 hours. 80 students

registered for the training camp.

The module in charge was Sibi Varkey — secretary coaching, with Dr Manimara Chozhan –Director of

Coaching, Suni Moorkanat –Assistant Director, Shyam Sadwani –Chief Coach, Ravikumar Barthipudy – Resident Coach and Dr Vijay Shirhatti –Moderator.

Practical Sessions These sessions involved physical and mental conditioning

Theory Sessions

These sessions laid lot of stress on A-V discussions, interactive assessments and evaluations.

The coaching sessions were held every week, Saturday to Thursday from 1700 to 2000 hours with IBAK

providing free transport to the children who have been drawn from various parts of the country. This coaching camp, or module as IBAK’s office-bearers - led by their president Dr Manimara Chozhan - call it,

is a continuation of the organization’s efforts to make IBAK one of the premier badminton organizations in Kuwait

IBAK 1st Coaching Module - MAR 2011


Indian Badminton Association in Kuwait (IBAK) celebrated in a grand style the First Anniversry at the

Saad Al Awzi School, Salwa.

The event, called “Feliz Viaje - Spanish for “happy journey”-was so well organized that by the time it was

over everyone was certain that IBAK had really travelled a long way in the one year since its inception and was now probably already accepted as one of the best badminton groups in Kuwait. The celebra-

tions saw the participation of over 400 guests and the main event was a cultural show performed by over 100 IBAK members and their families, with some 68 participants on the stage at one time – during the

grand fashion parade.

The celebrations were graced by the outgoing Ambassador of India to Kuwait, Ajai Malhotra, and his wife

Ira Malhotra. IBAK President Dr Manimara Chozan, after welcoming all the guests and participants in the anniversary celebration, then detailed the programme for the evening. He also read out a poem he had

written for the occasion. Ajai Malhotra then took to the stage and he was all praise for the organization.

He said that he had been happy to be the patron of IBAK.He promised to remain in touch after he left Kuwait and would keep following the achievements of IBAK. He wished IBAK a lot of success in all its

endeavors.

The Indian ambassador has been a very strong and vocal supporter of IBAK. The ambassador is currently the patron of IBAK and was instrumental in getting the organization a permanent home. Malhotra had,

during recent event praised the organization, its president and all the office bearers. He was happy to

note that the membership had swelled past the 600 mark in a very short time. In the year since it was formally launched on April 14th 2010 at the Qadsiya Sports Complex, Chozhan and his dedicated group

of office-bearers has worked really hard not only to set up a permanent home for the organization, which is the same place where the first anniversary was celebrated, they have also worked really hard to ar-

range quality tournaments.

The special invitees to the celebrations were Mohammod Al Dashti, Director of School Activities -Hawali,

Emad Khalaf Al IBAK Gen Secretary Thomas Moolayil IBAK president Dr Mani, Quraini, — Principal of Saad Al Awzi School, and Bader Al Fares, vice-principal at the same school. The major sponsors of the

event were PSC Ltd and Taiba Hospital with the other sponsors being Travel Technology Systems Co, Al

Zahem International Co, Avanti Palace, Jet Airways and UAE Exchange. Meanwhile, IBAK has also launched its official website www.ibakwt.org.

IBAK First Anniversary - APR 2011


The tournament was organized in the IBAK tiering category. Blue Tier: drew 8 pairs, Red Tier: Advanced players - 12 pairs, Green Tier - 4 Pairs, Yellow Tier- 12 pairs Winners

Blue Tier

Champions: Mathews J and Jabbar F Runners-up: Suresh R and Faheem C

Red Tier Champions: Anil L and Yash L

Runners-up: Shyam and Vijay

Green Tier

Champions: Rohith and Vineeth Runners-up: Sri Sree and Rahul

Yellow Tier

Champions: Rani A and Shaina Ajay Runners-up: Saikrishnan and Sayooj

IBAK organizers are thankful to Mr. Mahmoud Al Dashti Director of Special Activities Hawally and Saleh Al Saleem Dept Head of Physical Education for his continued support.

IBAK Internal Badminton Tournament – May/Jun 2011


Although a large number of the IBAK members and their families are out on summer holidays with the

closing of schools, the event still attracted a substantial amount of interest with those remaining in the

country for the hot summer keen to maintain their fitness. IBAK adopted the “ tier system”. Winners

Blue Tier- In the Blue Tier, Faheem and Noor took the crown after outclassing opponents with 21-15, 21-13 in the championship game without having to put in too much effort

Red Tier: At the end of the day, Shyam and Prasad had taken the top honors with an overwhelming two-set 21-13, 21-9 victory in the championship finals.

Green/Yellow Tier - Pramod and Shaina, who finished on top of the standings of the Elimination Round

in the combined Green/Yellow Tier with 6 wins, 1 loss and 18 points, took their excellent game into the

championship final to claim the crown in this category.

Blue Tier Champions - Faheem /Noor Runners-up - Pushkaraj/Srikumar

Red Tier

Champions - Shyam/Prasad Runners-up - Unnikhrishnan/Ashlin

Green/Yellow Tier

Champions - Pramod/Shaina Runners-up - Sai/Rani

IBAK “Summer Smash” – JUN/ JUL 2011

The tournament was played over the following three groups:

1-Blue Tier: Professional players – this drew 5 pairs 2-Red Tier: Advanced players – which saw 12 pairs 3-Green Tier: Ladies and beginners –which pulled 7 pairs.

Winners

Blue Tier- Blue Tier was ruled by the tandem of Sunil and Saju as they thumped Faheem and Rebin 21-

17, 21-13 in the final of this category to take the championship.

Red Tier - Tinu and Samuel Johnson proved that they are the best pair when they fought back to take revenge for their earlier defeat against the same pair in the league matches when they beat Balgopal and

Prasad in back to back sets 21-18, 21-18 to capture the title.

Green Tier - Ashir and Faiz showed that they were the strongest pair in Green Tier when they wasted no time to overwhelm Neha Satish and Relin Mathew 21-7, 21-12 in the final to take the crown.

IBAK Internal Badminton Tournament - Jul 2011


The matches were played in knockout formats and semifinals and finals in four tier regular format.

Winners

Blue Tier Champions – Mathews J/Jabbar F Runners-up – Suresh R/Faheem C Red Tier Champions – Anil L/Yash L Runners-up – Shyam and Vijay

Green Tier Champions – Rohith/Vineeth Runners-up – Sri Sree/Rahul Yellow Tier Champions – Rani A /Shaina Ajay Runners-up – Saikrishnan/Sayooj

Prizes were distributed by Shri Satish C Mehta - Ambassador of India to Kuwait.

IBAK Internal Badminton Tournament - Aug 2011

The event, which was preceded by an awards ceremony in which all the winners of various tournaments

were honoured, was attended by the Indian Ambassador to Kuwait Satish Mehta who presented the priz-

es.

1-Profesional Category with Pool A & Pool B. 2-Advance Level with Pool A, B, C & D 3-Ladies Event.

Winners

Professional level : Samson and Febbin finished the tournament with an unbeaten record, having earli-er through the entire elimination round with a single loss. Suresh and MMC went home as runners up with

the satisfaction that they lost only two matches in the whole tournament and both of them to the champi-ons.

Advanced level : Raja and Sreekar proved to be the best in this category, but not before they were giv-en a tough fight by Madan Mohan and Pradeep on their way to the title with a 21-13 16-21 21- 16 victo-

ry.

Ladies event: Two of Filipino Badminton Association in Ahmadi’s (FBAA) premium members, Roma and Lorie, bagged the crown in Ladies Category when they put together in unbeaten run in 8 games – includ-

ing 6 elimination round games, by brushing aside Shaina and Lekha in two easy sets in the championship

finals 21-16, 21-15.

IBAK Internal Badminton Tournament - SEP 2011


Coaching Module 2, started at the Saad Ibn Al-Aas School in Mishref on 17th Oct 11 to Dec 2011. The

coach for this module is a renowned coach from India – R. Sivaramakrishnan, who happens to be the

coach of yesteryear stars like George Thomas, Vimal Kumar etc. and of current and emerging champions (Pranoy, youth Olympics silver medalist in Badminton), rising star Sindhu Sreedharan etc. Coaching camp

was opened by Mr. Khaled Khalaf Al Farhan, the principal of the Saad Ibn Al Aas School. The camp was inaugurated at a very simple yet impressive ceremony. More than 94 children and 11 adults registered

for the event and this shows the popularity of the camp as the number by far exceeds the total trainees in the first module.

Practical Sessions These sessions involved physical and mental conditioning.

Theory Sessions These sessions laid a lot of stress on A-V discussions, interactive assessments and

evaluations.

The coaching sessions were held every week, Saturday to Thursday from 1700 to 1900 hours with IBAK

providing free transport to the children who have been drawn from various parts of the country. This coaching camp, or module as IBAK’s office-bearers - led by their president Dr Manimara Chozhan - call it,

is a continuation of the organization’s efforts to make IBAK one of the premier badminton organizations in Kuwait.

IBAK 2nd Coaching Module – OCT 2011

The tournament, which was held at the IBAK Gym in Salwa, saw the IBAK team emerge overall champi-

ons while the IES (Bhavan's) were the runners-up in the competition. but they were given a tough fight

by the FAIPS school( DPS), Carmel School and Indian Central School.

The successful inter-school tournament IBAK saw the participation of over 100 students drawn from vari-ous schools of Kuwait and was another first for IBAK as no other badminton organization had so far ar-

ranged such an event in the country. After organizing many successful adult tournaments and two suc-cessive coaching modules, IBAK recently shifted its attention to organizing an age-group event for young

students from various schools so that they could be provided an opportunity to showcase their talents.

The event, which was held over a 3- day period, attracted over 100 participants and the IBAK gym was a

sight to behold as it was soon bristling with activity. Right from day one, there was intense event being held in the following categories: boys – under-19, under- 15, under-13 and under-10 and for the girls the

event was limited under-19 and under-13. The competition drew a large entry, with the organizers deci-

sion to charge no fee from the entrants playing an important part in ensuring the success of the tourna-ment .

Winners: The overall championship was taken by the IBAK squad after they compiled 73 points and fin-

ishing second were IES (Bhavan's) with 28 points. In third place were DPS with 16 points, followed in 4th place Carmel School with 9 points and in last place were ICS with 6 points.

U-10 Boys Winner Sayooj Ajayakumar (IBAK) Runner up Mohammed Azeem (IBAK) U-13 Girls Winner Nivedha (IBAK) Runner up Sara Aafrin (IBAK)

U-13 Boys Winner Anirudth (Bhavans) Runner up Nithin Subramoniam (IBAK) U-15 Boys Winner Rishan Rai (DPS) Runner up Shyam Sunder (Bhavans)

U-19 Girls Winner Neha Sathish (IBAK) Runner up Sue Allen D’Souza (Carmel

U-19 Boys Winner Raja Durai (IBAK) Runner up Somesh Daga (IBAK) U-15 Doubles Boys Winner Nithin Subramoniam & Kishore Runners up Steve and Danish

U-19 Doubles Girls Winner Swetha Thomas/Bhagya Ratna Runners up Ilene D’Costa/Niveda U-19 Doubles Boys Winner Rishan Rai/Ashlin D’Souza Runners up Shyam/Surya

Overall Champions IBAK Runners up IES (Bhavan’s) School

IBAK 1st Inter School Championship - Nov 2011


The tournament was played over the following three groups:

1-Blue Tier: Professional players – This drew 15 teams. 2-Red Tier: Advanced players - which pulled 12 teams. 3- Red Tier: Intermediate players – This pulled 8 teams. 3-Green Tier: Ladies and beginners- Which drew 6 teams.

IBAK offered prize money of KD 100 for the winning team and KD 50 for the runners up. The tournament

was inaugurated by Mr. Mahmoud Dashti, Director of School Affairs, Hawalli region. The tournament wit-nessed a lot of upsets in the knockout stage. At the end of the tournament, he also gave away the prizes

for the IBAK Masters Cup winners. Winners.

Blue –Professional :

Champions - Suresh & Faheem; Runner up - Samson & Febin

Red-Advanced:

Champions - Ranjith & Pramod;

Runner up - Samuel & Ronnie

Red-Intermediate: Champions - Rasheed & Sibi;

Runner up - Tom & Ranjith

Green:

Champions - Anirudh & Gokul; Runner up - Saikrishnan & Nithin

IBAK Masters Cup Tournament - Dec 2011


IBAK team took part in its first overseas tournament – in the Maldives – which was hosted by the

Dhanvaru Friendly Veteran’s Badminton Club under the patronage of the Badminton Federation of

Maldives.

The IBAK team to the Maldives includes:

Dr. Manimara Chozhan Faheem Contractor

Suresh Ramachandran

Mallu Chandramouli Noor Kalmatta

Vivek Nair Mohan

Shyamsundar

The tournament saw the IBAK squad compete against the top three teams from the Maldivian National League. The tournament was held over three days and the format involved 4 doubles, 2 singles and one

tie-breaker doubles. On the first day, the IBAK team struggled to match their rivals in the extremely hu-mid conditions with matches being played at the Badminton Federation of Maldives. The IBAK team faced

another disadvantage as it had practiced with feathered shuttles and it was slightly difficult getting used

to real feather shuttles and different climatic conditions plus the turf courts. The Dhanvaru team, champi-ons of the Maldivian league, was a well-oiled machine and it was not long before it steamrolled the IBAK

team in all the 5 matches with Suresh and Faheem saving IBAK from further blushes by taking the dou-bles. The score line 5-1.

The next day saw the IBAK squad fight back and whitewash Male Eagles, the third-placed team of the league, 6-0. The score line is not indicative of the strength of the opposition as the Eagles fought hard. It

was just that they had been unaware of the resilience of the IBAK squad. The fact that all the matches were three-set affairs proves how closely the matches were fought. The day also saw the real match of

the tournament – between the runners-up of the Maldivian league, United Sports Club and the now-

settled IBAK team. IBAK went two up with two doubles victories while the United team soon tied them by winning one single and one doubles. IBAK pulled ahead again when Suresh won his singles but the

scores were again tied when United won the fourth doubles. The tie-breaker doubles match was won in straight sets by the United team despite a tough fight put up by the thoroughly exhausted IBAK team.

The IBAK team believes the tour was an enriching experience and new friendships were formed during the tour.

Sponsor for the tournament : Wataniya Telecom – Kuwait.

IBAK Overseas Tournament Maldives – Dec 2011


KOC Badminton Club and IBAK Dragons players put in a spirited performance to share the top spot, after

three weeks of matches, in the Inter-Club Tournament organized by Indian Badminton Association in Ku-

wait (IBAK).

IBAK started with the first Inter-Club tournament, with the opening ceremony on Feb 3. The tourna-ment will ran for four successive Fridays and several clubs in Kuwait took part in the event. Such a tour-

nament is taking place for the first time in Kuwait.

Tournament Directors: Baburaj & Ajay Kumar Clubs participated IBAK Dragons, IBAK Tornadoes IBAK Hornets, (KBC)—KOC Badminton Club RBC (Reggae Badminton Club), FILBACK (Filipino Badminton Association in Kuwait Abassiya Warrior

The original IBAK team players had been distributed over these three teams with the idea to provide ex-posure to youngsters and other players who have been on the fringes so that they can express them-

selves competitively. The IBAK office-bearers seem to achieved their aim because some of the young-sters have performed extra-ordinarily giving some of the more established players in Kuwait a run for

their money.

While both the teams have 50 points, KOC Badminton Club have an advantage over IBAK Dragons be-

cause they have collected these points from only 30 matches while the latter got their total from 36 matches.

Winners - KOC – 8 Points Jabbar, Jiju, Chacko, Ramesh, Bastain and Samson represented KOC team.

Runners - IBAK Dragons – 4 Points

Suresh, Arif, Vivek, Srikumar, Sanal, Pushkar and Palani represented IBAK dragons.

IBAK 1st Inter-Club tourney - Feb 2012


As part of its Academic Scholarship programme, IBAK presented certificates and cash awards to the

following students of Saad Al Awsi School who came 1st, 2nd and 3rd on the merit list of the 9th standard examinations of the academic year 2011-2012:

1. Mohammed Saeed Khaled Al Juma (98.1 %) — cash award of KD100

2. Yousef Merhel MefrehAl Aswad Al Azmi (94.8 %) cash award of KD75 3. Hassan Abdullatif Ahmad Al Hindyani (94.3 %) —cash award of KD50

IBAK is also thankful to the authorities of the Saad al Awsi School, Salwa, especially its Principal, Mr.

Emad Khalaf Al Qurani for the support provided to IBAK.

IBAK Scholarship Programme


IBAK concluded its 3rd and 4th coaching module with overwhelming participation from Children interest-ed in learning badminton.

IBAK 3rd and 4th Coaching Module 2012 & 2013

IBAK Wataniya Goodwill Tournament at the Saad Al Awzi School, in Salwa started on Sept 21, 2012 at

10.30am with the finals played on Oct 19, 2012 at the same venue. Sunil Methala is the Tournament

Director of the event. The Tournament Committee members are Jyothish Noor, Siraj Saju Thomas, Madu (Sreeni) and Tinu

Winners Sunil and Renjith

1st runners-up Saiju and Binu 2nd runners-up Shajahan and Dinesh.

After both the finals, a simple but impressive ceremony was held to honor the champions (both IBAK teams) and all the other players who did well in the championship with the

prizes being given away by Mr. Abby Elias, Director, IN and VAS Planning, Wataniya Telecom.

A good turnout was seen at the finals with the championship matches being covered by Jaihind TV.

IBAK Wataniya Goodwill Tournament Sep-Oct 2012


Ambassador of India to Kuwait Satish Mehta addressed the gathering. All the prizes were present-ed to the winners of the tournament by the Ambassador of India to Kuwait Satish Mehta,

Tournament winners Blue Tier

Champions — Bastain and Jabbar 1st runners-up — Suresh and Bader

2nd runners-up — Saju Thomas and Usman

Red Advanced Tier

Champions — Saju C and Binu 1st runners-up — Aravind and Bharani

2nd runners-up — Sunil Raj and Jyothish

Red Inter

Champions — Vikram and Vikram 1st runners-up — Garylord and Kishore

2nd runners-up — Madhu and Jose

Pink Tier

Champions — Neha and Harsha 1st runners-up — Sherly and Liya

2nd runners-up — Kundana and Shoba

IBAK Winter Tournament - Dec 2012

Indian Educational School (IES Bhavan) players showed their class this week to win the Indian Badminton Association- Kuwait’s (IBAK) 2nd Inter-School Championship 2012 in style at the Saad Al-Awzi School Salwa.

The following schools took part in the championship: Indian Central School (ICS),

Fahaheel Al Watanieh Indian Private School (FAIPS DPS),

Carmel School,

Indian Educational School (IESBhavan),

Integrated Indian School (IIS),

Pakistan School of Kuwait

Philippines School of Kuwait.

IES (Bhavan) took the trophies in Under- 14 Boys Singles, Under-14 Girls Singles,Under-14 Girls Doubles,

Under-16 Boys Singles, Under-16 Girls Singles and Under-16 Boys Doubles. FAIPS were runners- up in Un-der16 Girls Singles, Under- 16 Boys Doubles and Under-19 Boys Doubles The organizers were really

stretched to the limit as they had to put in a huge effort to finish the tournament in only one day with the

matches starting early in the morning and finishing at 11pm. The event started with the tournament being declared open by Indian Ambassador to Kuwait Satish Mehta .

Winners Under-14 Singles Boys Champion — Anirudh (IES) : Runner-up — Nithin S (DPS-D) Under-14 Singles Girls Champion — Neha (IES) : Runner-up — Swetha Krishnan (DPS-S) Under-14 Doubles Boys Champions — Jay & Gunsimar (DPS-S) : Runners-up – Nithin & Sahil (DPSD) Under-14 Doubles Girls Champions – Neha & Archana (IES) : Runners-up – Swetha & Vasanthi (DPS-S) Under -16 Singles Boys Champion – Shyam Sunder (IES) : Runner-up – Parth (DPS-D) Under -16 Singles Girls Champion – Harsha (IES) : Runner-up – Saili (IES) Under -16 Doubles Boys Champions — Heamchandran & Shyam (IES) : Runners-up – Vineet & Sarath (IES) Under -19 Singles Girls Champion — Simran (DPS-S) : Runner-up – Swetha (Carmel) Under -19 Doubles Boys Champions—Raja & Jovin (ICS) : Runners-up – Anirudh & Paul (IES) Under -19 Doubles Girls Champions – Sue Allen & Swetha (Carmel) : Runners-up – Anusha & Himangi (DPS-S)

IBAK 2nd Inter-School Championship - Dec 2012


Before the start of both the finals, the IBAK officials held a short but impressive ceremony to honor Ya-

war Maqsood Khalil, the outgoing News Editor of the Arab Times who is leaving Kuwait after almost

three decades, for his contribution to badminton and IBAK. Dr Mani (IBAK President) and other IBAK officials, while presenting a plaque of appreciation to Mr. Maqsood and thanked him for supporting

IBAK since it was established in 2010 and wished him well in his future endeavors. Masters Cup winners Blue Tier Champions: Suresh and Bader

1st Runners-up: Ravi and Shyam 2nd Runners-up: Tamer and Rafeeq

Red Advanced Tier Champions Binu P.D. And Sojan 1st Runners-up Relin Thomas and Shahjahan

2nd Runners-up ShyamSadhwani and Ranjith

IBAK 2nd Masters Cup tournament - Dec 2012


IBAK has elected the following officials to the IBAK Committee for the period 2013-2016. The new com-mittee will take over from the month of April 2013 onwards.

Chairman : Dr Manimara Chozhan

General Secretary : Sreekumar G Public Relations Secretary : Satish Kumar

Membership Secretary : Subramoniam Audit Secretary : Oommen

Event Management Secretary : Ajayakumar Vasudevan

Web Affairs Secretary : SanalNambiar Jt Web Affairs Secretary : Ashir Ashraf

Courts Secretary : GiriNarayan Jt Courts : Pradeep Kumar

Fine Arts Secretary : Dr Subash Chander

Ladies Wing Secretary : Sandhiya Shetty Jt Ladies WingSecretary : Kundana Kishore

Coaching Secretary : Shyam Sadwani Tournament Secretary : Tom Jacob

Advisory Council for the same duration:

Madan Mohan

Sunil Raj Clara Fernandez

AbdulRaheem Abbas

IBAK sincerely thanks the old committee members who have taken immense care to develop IBAK into

such a great sports organization within a very short span of 3 year period.

IBAK NEW COMMITTEE 2013-2016

Two of IBAK’s best players — Dr Mani and Jabbar— took part in the Dubai Open Invitational Tour-

nament organized by Synergy UTS Ltd and finished as 2nd runners-up after losing in the Semifinals.

At the beginning of the tournament both these players found difficulty in adjusting to feather shuttles as they play with the plastic ones in Kuwait. But Dr Mani and Jabbar had to adjust themselves quickly as the

tournament was played on a knock out basis.

For the tournament the 16 teams had been drawn into two pools but the Kuwait pair cruised through to the quarterfinals where they ran into last year’s winners whom they beat easily in straight sets to earn

their place in the semi finals.

Both the losing semifinalists clashed again for the second runners-up (third place) spot with the Kuwait pair scoring an easy two-set victory their defeat by the top seeds the Kuwait pair had been seen as Fa-

vorites because of the game they displayed. But Dr Mani and Jabbar still earned the distinction of taking

the top seeds and the ultimate champions to three sets and that too after being set down.

The Kuwait players, with their solid play, won the hearts of everyone at the tournament and also estab-lished contacts to set the stage for future tournaments between the Dubai League and IBAK.

IBAK 2nd Overseas Tournament - DUBAI JAN 2013


The IBAK Spring Challenge Cup is a tournament which is open to all the different categories. The tournament is being organized in such a way that it benefits the players who are being sent to Bahrain

later this year for an invitation tournament. It will act as a preparation platform for this team. The tour-

nament is being conducted on a league-cum knockout basis ( doubles only for men and singles/doubles for women). The tournament is being played using the standard Mavis 500 plastic shuttles until the

quarter-final stages and thereafter the Yonex AS2 feather shuttles in preparation for the Bahrain tournament. IBAK is sending about 20 trainees, who took part in the IBAK coaching modules, to take part

in an invitational age group competition to be held in Bahrain in April 2013. These trainees are being fully sponsored by the IBAK coaching team funds.

The tournament was played over the following 4 groups plus ladies section According to rules of the tournament, any player winning the match in two sets is awarded three points but if the game goes to three sets, the winner gets two points and the loser one.

All the favorites were in the best of form as they brushed aside their opponents to take the top spots in

their groups

Mens : Winners – Suresh and Bastin

Runners - Jabbar and Bader

Ladies :

Winners – Uttara Runners - Kundana

IBAK Spring Challenge Cup - FEB 2013

Bandhan 2013 was so sweet as honey because of the coordination of our committee members and team

members. The program was perfectly conjoined with various cultural activities which really highlighted our

Great Indian Culture. Hats Off to the Choreography team, as all were colorful to our eyes especially the

Arabic Dance and Punjabi Dance. Good see our committee members floating around with tricolor jerseys.

100 odd participants enrich your evening as they PUT UP BANDHAN 2013... A BOND OF LOVE. trully a

feast for your eyes!!!! The PERFORMERS are boosted up to the hilt. It is obvious to one and all that

IBAK is a serious threat to most SHOWTIME productions here in Kuwait and that we can stand tall when

it comes to being recognised for talent outside of badminton.

IBAK Cultural Program - BANDAN 2013


IBAK sent a delegation of more than 100 plus members and players to participate in Bahrain tournament on 25th Apr and 26th Apr 2013. IBAK - BKS CHIC KING INTER CLUB BADMINTON TOURNAMENT saw a large audience from both Bahrain and Kuwait. The matches had several nail bitting finishes. These overseas tournaments provides a great opportunity to hone the skills of IBAK players.

Junior Boys Team Championship Winners :

Nithin/Anirudh (U-15), Sai/Steve (U-15), Gokul/Alex (U-15), Anzeem/Adithya (U-15), Adnan/ Sayooj (U-

12), Shyam/Raja (U-19) and Pradeep (Team manager)

Junior Girls Team Championship Winners :

Neha/Shwetha (U-19),Nivedha/ Gouri (U-14), Niyathi/Parvathy (U-12) and Sandhya (team manager) IBAK BLAZERS Runners Up in the Senior Team Championship –

Dr.Mani (Team Captain), Tamer, Suresh, Bastian, Jabbar, Noor, Uttara, Sirajudeen (Team manager)

IBAK Overseas Tournament - Bahrain

IBAK has been a trailblazer in many respects since its establishment over a year ago and in a consistent

fashion this week it continued on the same path when it marked the end of its “Coaching Module-5” with a

tournament involving all the trainees who had taken part in the coaching camp.

The badminton coaching event is a regular feature of IBAK. A total of 90 people participated in the coaching to learn the basics and also to improve their skills of badminton. Along with the regular coaching schedule,

audio-video presentations were included in the training sessions to introduce the nuances of the game to the trainees. The significant number of senior trainees showed that people were interested in developing

their game despite age constraints.

A Singles tournament was organised on July 5, 2013 for the participants of Module 5 as a part of badminton

coaching. The closing ceremonies saw prizes presented to the winners of each category of the tournament while there were certificates to the trainees who took part in the camp, which ran from May to July of 2013,

and a tournament was also held for children aged 10 and above as part of the closing ceremonies.

On the tournament the games were played in a league and knockout fashion for singles only.

Senior men (born before 2000) Winner: Rajesh T. V

1st Runner-up: George Abraham

2nd Runner-up: Sree Raj Junior men (born after 2000)

Winner: Keegan Sanctis 1st Runner-up: Umair Asad

2nd Runner-up: Abhinav Shine

Ladies: Winner: Keegan Harshavardhini

1st Runner-up: Shalini Mohan 2nd Runner-up: Niyati Pradeep Kumar

Juniors (Beginners):

Winner: Adwaiet Kuthe Runner-up: Rahul Kamath

Special Medals: Shobhna, Nytikta, Ashutosh, Jeffry, Arjun

About 8 Kuwaiti teenagers belonging to the Bayan Bilingual School also took part in the coaching sessions this time.

IBAK 5th Coaching Module & Tournament - JUL 2013


The tournament was played over the following three groups: 1-Blue Tier: Professional players – this drew 14 pairs 2-Red Tier: Advanced players – which saw a really huge entry with 48 pairs 3-Green Tier: Ladies and beginners –which pulled 12 pairs. The tournament witnessed a lot of upsets in the knockout stage. At the end of the tournament, a simple but

impressive prize distribution ceremony was held with Mr. Mohammed Dashti as the Chief Guest and Mr. Daniel Mathews the Guest of Honour. Winners

Blue Tier- Chandra and Pushkar took the crown in the Blue Tier. Chandra and Pushkar showed a lot of skills, staying power, and coordination to win the title of the senior most category in the Indian Badminton

Association-Kuwait (IBAK) The Blue Tier trophies were distributed by Mr. Mahmood Dashti.

Red Tier - T.V. Rajesh and Sojan emerged at the top in the Red Tier The Red Tier winners received their

trophies from Mr Daniel Mathews.

Green Tier - Harsha with Nivedha proved to be the best pair in the Green Tier The trophies for the Green Tier winners were distributed by Mrs.Umamaheshwari Manimaran

At the same ceremony special medals were presented to master Ashutosh and Dhanush by Daniel Mathews and J. Cherian while mementos were presented to both the sponsors — Daniel Mathews and Sureshbabu.

At the start of the prize distribution ceremony, Chairman IBAK Dr. Manimara Chozhan welcomed all the

guests, players and spectators while thanking all the sponsors in helping make the event a success. Tour-

nament Secretary Tom Jacob and the tournament Director Prasad thanked all committee members and officials on the success of the tournament while General Secretary Sreekumar offered a vote of

thanks.

IBAK “Summer Smash” - AUG 2013


The Masters Cup is a mega event organized every year by IBAK and efforts are made to invite all the top badminton players in the country so that they can showcase their skills at the Advanced and Professional

levels. This major event is being sponsored by Zain Telecommunications Kuwait.

The Ambassador of India to Kuwait Shri Satish Mehta attended the inauguration as the Chief Guest

of the function along with the officials from Zain Mohammed Shereef and Hamad AlMatar. KTV 2 covered the event and made a special telecast in Kuwait Television channel 2.

Winners

Advanced category

Champions: Aju Thomas and Binoj Cheruvathoor

1st runners-up: James Aguinaldo and Sherwin Felizardo

2nd runners-up: Mohammed Rokhim and Dadang

Professional Category

Champions: K. Maheswaran and Shyam 1st runners-up: Bastian James and Jabbar Farooqi

2nd runners-up: Suresh R. and Jithin Jayaraj

The tournament ended with a grand prize distribution ceremony. The prizes were distributed by Mr.

Mahmoud Dashti, former director of school affairs, Hawally region, as well as Mr. Mohammed Shereef, Director of Finance (Zain Group). The players were so impressed with the conduct of the

championship that they vowed to return and participate in the next edition of the tournament. IBAK would

like to thank the Zain Management, the school authorities of Saad AL Awzi School, Ministry of Edu-cation, Indian Embassy, the Arab Times and KTV 2 for the support and patronage accorded to IBAK

during the conduct of the three-day badminton extravaganza.

The organizers of this tournament were based on over 30 IBAK committee members who not only showed

exemplary skills in organizing and meticulously planning each and every activity of the tournament. The IBAK Masters Cup success can be judged from the fact that it received entries from various nationalities in

Kuwait including Indians, Filipinos, Indonesians, Pakistanis, Egyptians and Bangladeshis

IBAK Masters Cup — OCT 2013


A fun event that helped all the IBAK member and family to unite and have fun. The event helped to dis-

play some of the hidden talents of IBAK members in singing, dance and talent show. More than 350

members and families joined in this gala event.

IBAK Winter Carnival


The IES (Bhavans) A team compiled a total of 86 points to clinch the crown with the FAIPS — Fahaheel Al Watanieh Indian Pvt (DPS) School A team finishing as first runners-up with 61 points. This was the

third year in a row that the Bhavans had collected the trophy.

The tournament, which had Mr. J.S. Dangi — Second Secretary of the Embassy of India to Ku-

wait — as the chief guest attracted over students from the following schools:

1. FAIPS — Fahaheel Al Watanieh Indian Pvt (DPS) 2. Indian Educational School (Bhavans) 3. Indian Central School, Abbassiya 4. Carmel School, Kheitan 5. Indian Integrated School 6. Jabriya Indian School 7. Pakistan School, Mangaf 8. India International School, Mangaf 9. Gulf India School The tournament was a segregated one (all sections had boys and girls sections) for three different cate-

gories 1-Under 14, 2-Under 16 3-Under 19. There were several nail-biting matches in both the singles and doubles format for boys and girls. The

points gained by the various schools in each category were totaled to decide the championship. By hold-

ing this tournament, IBAK has confirmed that it is the only organization which is holding the interschool tournaments.

IBAK 3rd Inter School Championship – DEC 2013

Winners Under 14 Boys

Winner Keegan (DPS A) Keegan & Ashley (DPS A) Ist Runnerup Ansley (DPS A) Sayooj & Umair (ICS A)

2nd Runnerup Umair (ICSA) Manas & Bino (IIS Strickers)

Under 14 Girls

Winner Nivedha Manimaran (DPS A) Nivedha & Harshita (DPS A) Ist Runnerup Sreeja Apparaju (DPS B) Niyathi & Sindhu (UT)

2nd Runnerup Harshitha Mukundan (DPS A) Sheril & Susmitha

(Bhavans A)

Under 16 Boys Winner Shyam (Bhavans A) Shyam & Gokul (Bhavans A)

Ist Runnerup Nithin (DPS A) Nithin & Alex (DPS A) 2nd Runnerup Gokul (Bhavans A) Parth & Mayank (DPS B)

Under 16 Girls Winner Harsha Vardhini (Bhavans A) Harsha & Neha (Bhavans A)

Ist Runnerup Neha Satish (Bhavans A) 2nd Runnerup Merlin Mathew (UT) Vaishnavi & Merlin (UT)

Under 19 Boys Winner Anirudh (Bhavans A) Sai Krishnan & Steve (UT)

Ist Runnerup Saikrishnan (UT) Anirudh & Aditya (Bhavans A) 2nd Runnerup Erich James (DPS A) Erich James & Abhishek Kalya (DPS A)

Under 19 Girls Winner Jawariya Saleem (PKS) Heli Gandhi & Saili Abhijith (Bhavans A)

Ist Runnerup Saili Abhijith (Bhavans A) Madhumita & Akshiya (Bhavans A) 2nd Runnerup Heli Gandhi (Bhavans A) Promise & Nabirathu (JIS)



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