40 teams to take part in tennis ball Grand cricket tournament

MUSCAT: The Grand cricket tournament 2022, a tennis ball T10 tournament organised by the Grand Global Investment (GGI), will begin at the Al Hail Cricket Club grounds from Friday.

The knockout tournament with free registration had attracted a good number of teams as 40 local clubs will compete for the honours in three weekends starting from March 4.

Women cricketers will also get a chance to test their credentials as GGI will also organise a Women’s Cup tournament alongside the main event.

Four teams have so far registered for the women’s tournament, which is scheduled for March 12.

The tournament fixtures and groupings were finalised at the draw ceremony held at Amarah Hotel in Bausher on Tuesday.

The men’s tournament for Challenger’s Cup will be held among 40 teams divided into four groups.

The men’s and women’s finals are set for March 19.

Chief organiser Ali Humaid al Alawi, Chairman of Grand Global Investment, said he was elated by the overwhelming response to his first venture in organising a cricket tournament.

“We are overwhelmed by the great response from the local teams to our debut cricket tournament. We believe it is our social responsibility to bring the sports loving people back into action after a challenging period of pandemic,” Ali said.

This motto of GGI was the main reason to make the tournament with free registration, he said.

The GGI chief also announced a Corporate Cricket Cup event as the group’s next venture. The details of the tournament will be unveiled soon, Ali al Alawi said, adding that the registration has started for the prize-money event.

The final and most of the matches of the Challenger’s Cup will be live telecasted on GGI website and its social media channels.

The tournament will also offer attractive trophies for the top-placed teams and individual prizes as well.

The draw was conducted by Sanjit Kanojia, technical director of the tournament.

“The matches will be held on Fridays and Saturdays from 7 am to 9pm for three weeks starting from March 4,” Kanojia said.

The tournament organizing committee members along with the captains and managers of the participating teams took part in the draw.