Defending Champions Sydney Ba and Sydney Nalawa were denied their hat-trick victory by arch rivals NZ Ba and Sydney Ba in their respective divisions at the S M Singh Cup and Billy Singh Cup soccer matches held at Centre Park Stadium in Mangere over the Auckland Anniversary weekend.
Both the matches, played at the expected pace, had to go to the dreaded penalty shootout.
In the S M Singh cup final match, the two teams, met for their consecutive third year.
It was ‘now or never’ for the local NZ Ba, led by Stewart Bola.
Sydney Ba missed the services of their star midfielder Esala Masi, but Shalendra Lal and Arif Azam combined well.
Nippy striker Sameer Ali of NZ Ba had the stadium erupt after scoring at the tenth minute of play.
Exciting matches
The lead was short-lived, as current Ba and national rep Malakai Kanihewe leapt over the NZ Ba defence to equalise over the next five minutes.
It remained 1-1 after full time and added extra time.
In the shoot outs, NZ Ba scored all five, while Sydney Ba missed one to give NZ Ba the much anticipated victory by 6 -5.
NZ Ba walked away with the SM Singh Cup for a record fifth time and with it the silverware, 25 Gold medals and $5000 Cash Prize.
Sydney Ba got the Runners Up cup, 25 silver medals and $1500 cash.
Minnie Taylor, the youngest daughter of the late S M Singh presented the Billy Singh Cup while Vimlesh Singh and his wife did the honours for the S M Singh Cup.
In the Billy Singh over 40 competition, it was Sydney Ba that took revenge on its arch rival Sydney Nalawa. Both teams played to avoid the shootout but it was Sydney Ba’s year.
The final scores were 5-4 to Sydney Ba and Sachindra Kamal (Pule) was all smiles.
In the Over 35 semi-finals, NZ Ba were lucky to beat the new look Nadro/Federal side by 2-1, while Sydney Ba comfortably accounted for NZ Suva 3-0.
In the over 40 the semi-finals were all a Sydney affair with Nalawa comfortably defeating Labasa 3-0 and Sydney BA dumped Sydney Suva by the same goal margin.
Community together
Satyan Prasad, managing director of Humm 106.2 FM, Title Sponsor of the Tournament, said that his vision has always been to get the community together events, festivals and sports.
“I welcome the partnership between NZFVSA and our radio station and would like to congratulate the organisers of the 14th SM Singh & Billy Singh Memorial Cup Tournament, thank the Dheil Family for organising the Kabaddi tournament and our local and overseas players and their representatives,” he said.
Dreketi was named Team of the Year, while the Team’s Jalindar Singh and Rajveen Prasad were awarded respectively the titles of Player of the Year and Coach of the Year. Mani Narayan of Nasinu/Sydney Ba was the Manager of the Year, while Faiyaz Ali was the Referee of the Year and Gyanandra Kumar was the Administrator of the Year.
Among the additional attractions this year were the Billiards Championship, which was won by NZFVSA President Satyawan Singh, defeating Ratu Mudu Hoyt.
Following were the results:
Most Valuable Player: Over 35- Saiyad Hussein; Over 40- Bakalevu Mocemereke (both from Sydney Ba)
Golden Boot: Over 35: Saiyad Hussein (Sydney Ba) Over 40- Mohammed Janif (Nalawa)
Coach: Over 35- Asad Ali (NZ Ba); Over 40- Navin (Sydney Ba)
Goal Keeper: Over 35 & Over 40- Isikeli Seva (Sydney Ba);
Manager: Over 35- Rayjeet Raj (Sydney Ba); Over 40:
Fair Play: Over 35- NZ Labasa; Over 40-Sydney Savusavu
