Sixth edition of Sharjah Labour Sports tournament off to perfect start

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The sixth edition of the Sharjah Labour Sports tournament was launched at the sports fields of the Sharjah National Park, opposite Sharjah International Airport, on Saturday.

Salem Yousef Al Qaseer, Chairman of the Labour Standards Development Authority in Sharjah, kicked the ball to mark the opening of the much-anticipated tournament.

The first day of the tournament witnessed strong competition among labour sports teams, which will continue every Saturday from 7 am to 5:30 pm, for three months, until March 18.

LSDA is organizing the tournament in cooperation with the Sharjah Sports Council and the organizing company Reach Target.

About 2,000 players are taking part in the tournament, who are divided in 100 teams representing different government and private departments and establishments. These teams are competing in five sports: football (24 teams), cricket (28 teams), hockey (20 teams), basketball (15 teams) and volleyball (15 teams). The teams will be divided into groups, from which the first and second teams will be selected to play in the final rounds.

LSDA Chairman said, “The tournament reflects the directions of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah and his keen interest in the wellbeing of workers and instructions to promote sports as a healthy lifestyle in Sharjah work environment.”

He added, “Boosting sports activities in the work environment of the Emirate of Sharjah, receives the full support and supervision of His Excellency Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and Chairman of the Executive Council.”

On his part, Tariq Salem Al Khanbashi, Director of the organizing company, Reach Target, expressed his appreciation and thanks to the Labour Standards Development Authority in Sharjah for choosing Reach Target to be the organizing company for the tournament. He said the company will exert all effort to ensure the success of the tournament. He emphasized the importance of spreading sports culture among the various segments of society and promoting labour sports in Sharjah in cooperation with the Labor Standards Development Authority.

In a strong football competition, five matches were played on the opening day. Smart Warning team defeated Sharjah Archaeology Authority team with five clean goals, Al Asdiqa team defeated Americana team by withdrawal, Black Phone team won the Immigration team 2-1, Sharjah coop team defeated Bee’ah team 10-1, and Al-Haiba Real Estate team won Sporty team 3-1.

Five cricket matches were also played and resulted in the Saud Sharjah team defeating the Sharjah Emiri Guard team by three runs, (69-3, 66-4), OBS Fuel System team defeated the Sharjah Police Academy team by 103 runs (128-2, 25-5), the ES Global RAK team beat Bee’ah-2 team by 10 wickets, (48-0, 44-10), and the Globelink West Star team downed Team Americana by 10 wickets, and the Sharjah Airport team thrashed HMS Hospital Dubai team by 10 wickets.

The competitions will continue next Saturday, playing a new round of the tournament games.