Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Work hard and bring laurels to the Sultanate

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Oman’s 50th Anniversary of the National Day has got the former Oman national Olympic hockey coach, SAS Naqvi into great excitement as he has been in Oman for the last 39 years.


He had also served as the technical adviser for Oman Hockey Association and Oman Olympic Committee. This is what the first official hockey coach of Oman has to say to the youth. “Play football and play hockey.”


As he looks back at the history of hockey in Oman and his career as a player in Indian Hockey through the displays at his museum named SAS Naqvi Sports, Olympic and Hockey Museum, he shows a picture of late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos with a young hockey team in the 1970s. He quickly picks out a whistle and blows and explains it was the whistle he used in 1964 at an important hockey game.


He continues the excitement as he explains the journey of Oman Olympic Committee and the wonderful colleagues he has worked with over the years. Their pictures are on the walls. Another important part of the collection in the museum is all the Olympic Games Oman has participated over the years. He has been part of the delegation to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, 1988 Seol Olympics, 1992 Barcelona Olympics, 1992 Atlanta Olympics and the 2000 Sydney Olympics.


His passion for hockey continues and he would like to see more youngsters take up hockey.


“First of all I would like to thank His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik. Today Oman is one of the top countries in sports with some of the best facilities, respected and loved by many of us. I would like to tell the youth of the country to please work hard, bring laurels to the Sultanate, which has achieved a great place in the International Olympics, Asian Games and Arab Games as well as other games. I had the great honour to work with Dr Hamad al Ghafri, who was at that time the President of the Oman Olympic Committee,” says Naqvi. At 91 years of age, Naqvi continues to train and nurture young talent and inspire sports enthusiasts with his knowledge of sports history and collection of memorabilia. Some of the collections are priceless. It is this collection of history that has been attracting international sports stars to his museum while they are in Oman.


“The Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex was a great vision of late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. Today sports enjoy a special status along with culture and youth affairs. His Majesty Sultan Haitham is a great sports personality who was playing hockey in my time at Oman Hockey Association during the Ramadhan Tournaments.


Of course he plays cricket too. My request to everyone is to remember late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos and support His Majesty Sultan Haitham by working hard for the betterment of the country,” says the hockey veteran.


 


Lakshmi Kothaneth


@lakshmioman


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