6 star-studded teams to vie for top spot

Six teams with many international players, including defending champions New Medical Centre (NMC), will compete in the 17th Jimmy George Memorial Volleyball tournament, which starts at the Al Jazira Club courts today. The tournament was organised by the Kerala Social Centre Abu Dhabi in memory of the former Indian volleyball star who played for clubs in the UAE before he died in a car crash in Italy. The tournament is one of the most popular events in the capital's calendar. "Unable to cater to the large turnout of fans, the KSC shifted the event to the Al Jazira Club and this year a host of Indian and Iranian international players will be joined by Emirati stars in the six-team event," said KSC President K.B. Murali. "This will be the second time that we will be staging the event in co-operation with the Al Jazira Club and I would like to thank Dr B.R. Shetty, MD and CEO of New Medical Centre (NMC) Group, for his support in getting the approval in a short time to host it in the club's international-standard courts." NMC, Al Jazira, Lifeline Hospital, Ocean Air Travels, Bani Yas Club and Total Office are the six teams divided into two groups and they will feature in a league-cum-knockout format. Prizes "The winners will be presented with Dh15,000 while the runners-up will get Dh10,000. Cash awards are also on offer for individual performances," the KSC chief said. The NMC team is expected to field Arjuna Award winner and Indian international Kapil Dev, Sube Singh, Prabakar Sinnadhu, Naveen Raja Jacob, Azeez Thayambath, Gurwinder Singh and Kanaka Raj Siva Subramaniyam. Ocean Travels from Dubai consist of Iranian internationals Vali Nourmohammadi, Armin Sadeghiani, Arash Sadeghiani, Ali Hussein, Mojtaba Shaban, Saber Narimannezhad, Mostafsa Sharifat and India's 2011 Arjuna Award winner Sanjay Kumar. Total Office from Abu Dhabi have in their line-up Indian players Selva Prabhu, Ravi Kumar, Dileep Koiwal and some UAE national players. The two UAE club teams, Al Jazira and Bani Yas, are also expected to field strong sides. Mohammad Al Tamran of Al Jazira said the club had completed all preparations for today's opening match, in which Al Jazira take on Total Office, the game starting at 8pm.