Wasim Akram named brand ambassador of 10PL

Media Release
July 27, 2017

Dubai: Former Pakistan paceman Wasim Akram was on Thursday named as the brand ambassador of 10PL, world’s biggest tennis ball cricket tournament.

The tournament is the brainchild of UAE-based Petromann Events to manage, operate and market the Indian team. Petromann Events, brainchild of Mr Abdul Latif Khan, also known as Arif Khan in the sporting arena. The tournament boasts the highest prize money for tennis ball cricket anywhere in the world and is valued at a total of 250,000 Dirhams.

Mr Akram will be the face of the tournament in the lead-up to the second edition of the tournament, scheduled to be held from 8-15 December 2017. The week-long tournament, will be held like in the first edition at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah.

Mr Akram played for Pakistan from 1985-2003 and formed part of the fames two Ws combination with Waqar Younis. In his time as a player and captain, Pakistan achieved a lot of success on the international stage. The crowning glory of Mr Akram’s achievements was the finish on the podium of the 1992 World Cup under the leadership of Imran Khan.

On his new role, Mr Akram said: “I am delighted to be the Ambassador of the 10PL cricket tournament. All of us in the subcontinent have grown up playing tennis ball cricket on the streets. Some of us have learnt key tricks that have helped us on the bigger stage as well. This tournament promises to be the perfect platform for raw talents to showcase what they are capable. I am really looking forward to this competition.”

Last year a total of 16 teams participated in 10PL and for this year nearly 40 expression of interests have already been received by the organisers for an available 20 spots. This year, the tournament is also expected to attract teams from a number of major corporate houses.

Abdul Latif Khan, chairman, Petromann Events said: “It is an absolute honour to have Mr Akram as the brand ambassador of the Indian team. In the coming days we will be unveiling a campaign with Mr Akram to further raise the profile of the tournament.”

Last year in addition to regular tennis ball cricketers, former Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman Zulqarnain Haider also participated in the tournament. This year it is expected that two former Sri Lankan Test cricketers-Chamara Silva and Thilan Thushara-could also be seen in action.

Speaking about the format Mr Abdul Latif Khan said: “This format is very popular in India & Middle East. Last year we showed that there had never been an event of this magnitude held anywhere in the world with such a huge prize money on offer. I am confident that the second edition will reach even bigger heights.”

About Petromann Events

More than a decade ago a team emerged from nowhere to try their hands in indoor cricket tournaments in Dubai; ateam largely made of blue collared workers.

A man named Abdul Latif Khan also known as Arif Khan was the man behind this startup. A passionate cricketerhaving played moderate level of the game back home in India, Arif Khan was desperate to carry on his love when he came to Dubai in search of greener pastures.

Despite the initial hardship, in 2004, he decided to form the team namedPETROMANN that entered the indoorfacility for the first time. Offered an opportunity to prove their mettle in the ‘D’ Division at Insportz, it was not a smooth sailing for Arif Khan and his team. There were handful of players who were ready to play but could not afford shoes while many of them were not even aware of the rules of indoor cricket.

But with a never-say-die attitude, Arif Khan ensured he kept the spirit of the team high and the results began to show as they emerged champions of that division.

Thereafter it was a fairytale ride for the Petromann as the team quickly rose through the success ladder and found themselves playing in the ‘A’ Division against some of the best teams in the country.

Their fight to excel continued and there was no looking back as the team made winning tournaments a habit. They achieved success in every possible tournament proving their dominance in indoor cricket and earning a huge reputation in the cricketing fraternity.

The team’s face changed rapidly as years went by with several players who represented the UAE National team also being part of the setup. Among those Amjad Javed, Asif Mumtaz, Rohan Mustafa and Qassim were some to name a few.

They went a step ahead bringing international players on full time contract from Sri Lanka to play further strengthen the team. A full-fledged board was formed to further enhance the management of the team that included Usman Manzoor, Sheikh Umar, Riyaz Khan, Sanjay Kuckian, Sheikh Usman and Tanveer Sadekar.

As they grew in status, for the first time in 2013, Petromann found a sponsor in Pacific Ventures for ICC Summer League. Real Estate developer Parvez Khan showed tremendous interest in the team and soon Pacific Ventures & Petromann Group Cricket Club collaborated as the team began playing under the banner of PVCC. This was the firstteam to find a full sponsor in the UAE.

After having achieved so much, Abdul Latif Khan, who also served as the Manager of Cricket Operations for Capricorn Commanders in the Masters Champions League held in 2016, felt it was time to give back something to the game he loved so much.

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News Network
June 17,2020

Doha: Qatar Indian Social Forum (QISF) once again set an example that no caste, creed, language and religion comes as hurdle for their humanitarian services and helped to perform last rites of Ramesh who committed suicide in Doha-Qatar.

45-year-old Ramesh son of K. Nagan hailing from Panikulam, Thrissur district in Kerala, who was working as a tailor committed suicide in his house at Ruwias in Qatar on 30th May 2020.

On hearing this news, some of his friends in Kearla informed Mr. Shihab who is also from Thrissur and a member of QISF and the same was brought to the notice of QISF humanitarian team head Mr. Abdul Latheef Madikeri and Basheer Ahmed of Tamil Nadu.

Immediately, the QISF team intervened and contacted the family members of the deceased in India and discussed the matter and consequences of sending the body back home to India in this pandemic COVID 19 situation.

Considering the prevailing situation, the family members gave the consent to bury the body in Qatar itself.

QISF team collected the required documents from the family of the deceased and managed to clear all the necessary formalities from the police department, Health Department, Embassy of India and Hamad Medical Corporation.

Finally, the body of the deceased was buried in Qatar on 7th June 2020 and the copies of all the relevant documents have been handed over to the family members.

The family members of the deceased thanked and applauded the leaders and all the members of QISF for their effective and on time humanitarian service rendered even in this pandemic crisis and having no bias.

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Agencies
August 8,2020

Dubai, Aug 7: One may call it good luck, but for two Indian expats it was God who prevented them at the last minute from boarding the Air India Express plane that crashed in Kerala, killing at least 18 people on board.

According to India's Civil Aviation Ministry, the Boeing 737 aircraft on a flight from Dubai to Kozhikode overshot the runway at Kozhikode airport on Friday evening. There were 184 passengers including 10 infants, 2 pilots and four cabin crew onboard the aircraft.

Noufal Moin Vetten, an Ajman resident working as an office boy in a Sharjah school, was booked to travel on the flight and had checked in as per schedule.

Recounting his miraculous escape, Vetten, a resident of Malappuram, Thirunavaya, whose visa was cancelled a week ago, told Gulf News: “I was handed my boarding pass, but when I reached immigration, they told me I had to pay a fine of Dh 1,000 (Rs 20,430) for overstay. I had only Dh 500 (Rs10,215) with me.

"I called my school PRO and he told me to come back. He said they would follow protocols and pay the fines before sending me,“ he said.

Vetten was disappointed and called his family to let them know.

“When I heard about the crash, I was saddened for all the passengers. But I'm so relieved I missed it. God has been really merciful,” said Vetten.

Afsal Parrakodan, a resident of Abu Dhabi, had a similar stroke of luck.

“My work visa was cancelled about a week ago. After getting my boarding pass, I was told I had to pay a fine of Dh1,000 at the immigration counter, but I had only Dh500 on me.”

“I was very keen to board the flight and be with my family. So I called a friend who brought me the additional Dh500, but by then, my baggage had been offloaded and the flight's doors were closed,” said Parrakodan.

“I was feeling very sad and called my mother to tell her I had missed the flight. But a few hours later, when I learnt of the crash, I couldn’t help but feel relieved and thankful to God for saving my life,“ said an overwhelmed Parrakodan who plans to fly back next week. 

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 25,2020

Dubai: Karnataka Sports & Cultural Club (KSCC) distributed Eid Kit across the UAE (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah to the ) needy people on Eid al Fitr.

KSCC President Mr. Mohammed Ismail Said: “Eid is a Symbol of Gratitude and Unity. As the last few weeks have been hard for each one of us, we wanted to stand in solidarity to celebrate Eid, by helping labours and needy people. He also said that “We are together to be part of UAE. Serving these meals is our core social responsibility."

KSCC recently conducted humanitarian services during COVID-19 pandemic in 2 phases and conducted Blood Donation Drive. They have also planned to conduct next Blood Donation Drive on 25th May, 2020.

The KSCC main objective is to develop the expatriate community into a well-nourished section of society in the areas of social, sports and cultural activities.

On behalf of KSCC, and the entire executive council Mr. Mohammed Ismail, President of Club, extended a very heartly thanks and gratitude to the Main sponsor of the event M/s. EMSQUARE, Engineering Consultant, and Tawakkal Overseas Dubai.

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