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Strong showing by Ottawa-Gatineau at Muslim ball hockey tourney
Written by Shujaat WastyOver 200 participants turned up for the 36th Montreal Muslim Ball Hockey (MMBH) tournament on May 11 at John Abbott College campus in Montreal. For the first time since it was founded 21 years ago, the bi-annual tournament featured two tiers, with five elite teams playing in Tier I and the remaining thirteen teams competing in Tier II.
Tier I finals featured perennial favourites Green Army, who were an all-Montreal team save for Ottawa star goaltender Aneel Anwar Nauth, emerging victorious over a team consisting of mainly Toronto-area players. The first period had Green Army with a slight 2-1 advantage, which they later opened up further and routed their opponents by a score of 7-1. Green Army captain Sophian Mian, well established as one of the top players in Montreal, incurred an injury during the finals but returned to score a goal in leading his team to their sixth ever championship.
"The (MMBH) tournaments have such great competition and some amazing teams that it's such a difficult tourney to win," he said, "It's always an accomplishment when you can pull a lucky one out."
Tier II consisted of three Ottawa-based teams, with two of them facing each other in the finals. The Ottawa Bureaucrats, backed by goaltender Usaamah Gill's strong play, kept the game close against the favoured Wipers, with Bureaucrats' captain Fahad Jawaid scoring the tying goal with only 1:50 left in the game. The match seemed headed to overtime with the score deadlocked at 2, however, Wipers' forward Umair Sandhu, in spite of an injured ankle, scored with 13 seconds left in the game to eventually win the championship.
When asked as to how he felt in scoring the golden goal, Sandhu said "It was unbelievable! After losing last tournament with 3 seconds left, I just wanted to make sure that we didn't make the same mistake. Being able to share a tournament victory with my brother, Ali, and the rest of my teammates is something I won't forget."
{sidebar id=9} The 36th MMBH Tournament had award winners in each tier; Tier I awards included Tournament MVP Omar Sabri from Toronto; Best Forward Hisham Ali; Best Defenceman Nazir Lasania; Best Goaltender Yousuf Rashid; Playoff MVP Mohamed Ghamraoui; Unsung Hero Anas Uddin; and Sportsmanship to Arssal Shahabuddin. Tier II awards had Ottawa's Omair Hassan with triple honours as Tournament MVP, Best Goaltender and Playoff MVP; Best Forward Mohamed Abowath; Best Defenceman Sheryar Qadoos; Unsung Hero shared by Shark Attack teammates Nauman Mirza and Nidal Diaz; Sportsmanship to Isa Mohammad of Ottawa.
This edition of the MMBH Tournament also had the induction of Faisal Shahabuddin into the MMBH Hall of Fame, due to his commitment (he has participated in every tournament since April 1993 marking 20 years), his consistency in playing at a high level (he has continually been recognized as an exceptional player and holds multiple records), his leadership (for winning 14 championships -- 11 as captain), and for being a key contributor to hockey in the Montreal Muslim community, and facilitating growth of the tournament.
Shahabuddin was presented with an official plaque of commemoration and spoke a few words to all participants; " Everyone seems to think I should retire though now, but I intend to continue to compete as hard as I can and keep as active as I can. I still feel young in mind and body, so I'm not ready to hang it up. Getting into the hall of fame is really a testament to playing with lots of great players and playing on lots of great teams over the years."
Aside from providing a forum for Muslim Canadians to play their sport in a positive environment, the MMBH tournament raises money for humanitarian projects locally and abroad. At this tournament, 375 items were collected for Moisson Montreal. While each team donated at least 15 items, those that contributed the most were West Islanders (57), Palak Paneer (44), Wipers (32) and B-Sharps (28).
Shujaat Wasty is the Chief Organizer and Commissioner of the MMBH Tournament. For more information, please refer to the website:http://mmbh.ca. Twitter at MMBHTourney.
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