Naqvi’s new museum to depict history of Oman, Indian hockey

Sports Tuesday 06/February/2018 20:34 PM
By: Times News Service
Naqvi’s new museum to depict history of Oman, Indian hockey

Muscat: In an encouraging gesture, Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) CEO Tayyib Ikram has recently visited the museum of hockey memorabilia of famous hockey personality SAS Naqvi.
Tayyib Ikram, who is also a member of International Hockey Federation (FIH) board, was recently in the Sultanate to award the hosting rights of Asian Champions Trophy to the Oman Hockey Association (OHA).
According to Naqvi, who had earlier served as Oman national hockey team coach as well as the technical advisor of OHA and Oman Olympic Committee (OOC), Tayyab Ikram paid a surprise visit to the new museum which is being established at Al Noor building in Ruwi.
“Tayyab Ikram visited my museum despite a very busy schedule,” Naqvi said while informing that the date is yet to be finalised for the inauguration of the new museum.
The AHF CEO was accompanied by former Pakistan star and current coach of Oman national team Tahir Zaman and OHA’s international co-ordinator Munir Shakir.
“Dato Sree Tayyab Ikram was highly impressed by the collections from Olympics, Asian Games, World Cups and several rare articles,” Naqvi said.
“I have also invited him to the inauguration ceremony which will take place soon under the patronage of Dr. Hammad Hamed Al Ghafri, Adviser at the Ministry of Civil Services. I am glad he has readily accepted my invitation.”
Meanwhile, Naqvi has appealed to sports lovers to contribute rare documents, photos, trophies or any hockey memorabilia they have in possession and those will be displayed at the museum with the contributor’s name.
Speaking about Tayyab Ikram, whom Naqvi met for the first time at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, he said: “Ever since I met him at Bangkok Asiad, he has been a great source of encouragement for me personally and in fact, in 2015 he had visited Muscat to honour me with ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ which was jointly awarded by FIH and the AHF.
“His latest visit to Oman, especially to my museum, is a very memorable one for him personally. I express my sincere gratitude to him for recognising my contribution to hockey in India and Oman as well as for the Olympic movement as the first technical adviser for Oman Olympic Committee for 20 long years. I would also like to thank Tahir Zaman and Munir Shakir for visiting and appreciating the exhibits at my museum.”
While revealing that Tayyab Ikram has promised to offer all assistance in establishing the museum, Naqvi said the museum will have three sections with one exclusively dedicated to Oman’s phenomenal progress under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos.
The other two two sections will be dedicated to golden era of Indian hockey and history of Oman hockey.