CERES (Modesto, Ca.): The inaugural Guru Nanak Dev Tournament concluded here on Sunday the 12th with great fanfare. The highlight of this tournament ‘was the visiting Kabaddi team from England. The boys won their matches handsomely, the participants and organizers left no stone unturned, even the rain gods came to help, and the weekend was full of sunshine in an otherwise rainy period. Thousands came to feel the greatest moment in sports history in the central valley of California. Ceres High School here was the site of this fascinating event. No one wants to miss the Kabbadi contest. Some of the spectators had travelled all the way from Canada and nobody ‘was disappointed with the rich feast of games on display.

‘On Saturday the 11th, hockey got to a wonderful start, with exhibition of talent between L. a. 49ersand San Jose Khalsa, The second game was also a treat to watch between Yuba Brothers from Yuba City and Azad Club from L.A. Both the games ended in a draw.

In another match Yuba Brothers trounced 49ers from LA by 4-1.

In the soccer competition Punjab Sports Glub (Fresno) and Guru Nanak Sports Club (Yuba City) were locked in a 2 all draw. The other game between G.N S.C. (Yuba City)and Pacific Livingston also ended in a goalless draw.

In the exhibition Kabaddi game between Modesto and Livingston the Modesto team had the better of their rivals from Livingsion.

The Athletics field and track event were dominated by Deol Brothers Bobby and Romi of Livingston. The briers were winners and runners up respectively in 100 m dash, In the 400 m Tarsem Singh (Livingston) stood first and Romi t. In the 1500m, also an excellent hockey player came first followed by Tarsem Singh and Satnam Singh (the last two are brothers from Livingston). The youth once again showed the talent in the long jump to be yet again dominated by the Deols . Bobby Deol with a leap of 15 feet 10 inches beat his brother Romi (14’8”) to share first and second position respectively. In this event Harkamal Singh who fouled on his first attempt did well to grab the third spot.

On Sunday in the hockey semifinals Yuba City Brothers overcame the 49ers Club from L.A. by two goals, after leading 10 at half time. In the second seminal the San Jose Khalsa beat the Azad Club of L.A. by a solitary goal after being goalless at the end of the first half. Tarlochan Sandhu scored the winner, San Jose Khalsa and Yuba Brothers fought hard but the regular time yielded no results. In the overtime the game was still dead locked ina goaless draw. In the end when the game had to be decided on penalty strokes the Yuba team decided to give in. The hockey champions are the Bay Area Team led by Kamalject Gill. The winners have a host of players, Tirlochan, Deepi, Jyoti, Mangat and their excellent goalkeeper, Shaid Mohand.

The soccer final between Guru Nanak Sports Club (Yuba City) and Punjab Sports Club Fresno was an action packed game, which provided thrills 0 one and all, The Fresno team played a very physical game whereas the Yuba guys ‘were content to display creativity. Yuba had their lead in the first half but Fresno was back in the game with a second half goal, As the teams were locked in a draw, Fresno was declared the winner and Yuba team runners up by the technical committee. Both the teams share old rivalry amongst them. The soccer competition overall displayed allots talent and skill, amongst the boys and spectators got to see high quality of soccer.

Kabbadi competitions were the star attraction of the tournament; These competitions could be rightly attributed as International event. It was for the first time in the history of sports tournament in USA that such a big gathering of outstanding Kabaddi players from England, India, Canada and America had participated in one day matches.

The top three teams in England XI, Punjab Sports Club Fresno and Guru Nanak Club Modesto participated on a Teague basis. In the keenly contested first match and Guru Nanak Modesto defeated Punjab Sports Club Fresno by 8. The final score was 4538, Balwinder Phidoo, who came all the way from India, was the main architect of their victory. Satpal Khilla of Canada successfully checked his on slight by catching him thrice.

The second match which was played between England Kabbadi team and Punjab Sports Club Fresno, was a tame affair as Fresno players had lost their (crest after losing to Modesto team. In the last match which was played on a fast pace thrilled the spectators. Balinder Phiddo who looked slightly tired in the morning session impressed his fan’s with his power and technique. He was hardly challenged by any of the defenders of his opposing team, Even his personal glamour and appeal could not curve out a victory for his side. Peter (Nirvair) and Jarnail were the top raiders for the English team, whereas Swarn and Kewal tried their defensive techniques on other raiders of Modesto. The final score was 40-29 in favor of England.

In basketball on the first day, the following matches were played in the senior competition, Pony Express (Yuba City), beat Azad Club I Fresno (57 to 51). Maxwell Yuba City beat Azad II Fresno (52-49). San Joaquin beat Modesto (31-16). Yuba City Sports Club beat Fresno Club (51-27).

Guns of Yuba City beat Azad II (Fresno) 69-62. Maxwell (Yuba City) beat Bubble Busters (Fresno) 48-28.

On the second and final day in the senior league in the first semifinal Yuba City Sports Club lost to Pony Express also of Yuba City (55-39).

In the other semifinal, in a nail-biting finish, Maxwell of Yuba City narrowly managed to overcome San Joaquin (41-39)

In the final in yet another keen contest, between two balanced teams Yuba City Sports Club overcame tough competition from Maxwell to win the trophy by 4743, for the winners the outstanding player was Jasminder Bains, who was also adjudged the most valuable player of the basketball competition. Rana Sandhu also of the same club scored 30 points, for the runners up Uma with 20 points had an excellent game.

In the junior competition Young Guns from Yuba City came out winners by haying the edge over San Joaquin. For the winners Parminder was very outstanding.

In the volleyball competition Bubble Busters of Fresno beat Turlock to win the tournament.

This gathering of people of the community served a very good cause. It proved to be a very good source of inspiration to our youth, for social contact. The organizers of this tournament deserve big thanks from the sports fans for taking a big step in the field of sports. At the conclusion, there was a dinner for the visitors at the community hall in Empire near here. The Samra Brothers and many others have gone out of their way to make this event a big success and moreover give the people here the opportunity to witness some of the greatest players of Kabaddi, There were flaws in the tourney but there is always a “first time” and the organizing committee proved it, The Kabbadi matches continue next weekend in Fresno and Yuba City.

Article extracted from this publication >>  March 17, 1989