ASIAN SPORTS FANS ENJOY WALSALL TOURNAMENT 2024
Thousands of Asian sport fans converged to Aston University
Playing Fields, Birmingham Road in the West Midlands for the
Walsall Football and Hockey Tournament organised by Khalsa
Football Federation KFF and Walsall Asian Sports Association
WASA which was held on 25 th and 26 th May that included nearly
100 teams from all over the country.
Teams from London, Nottingham, Milton Keynes, Slough,
Coventry, Leicester, Bedford, Derby and other cities took part in
the annual tournament that included 29 Senior teams, 53 Junior
Teams for the football section and there were five Senior hockey
teams. The tournament also included free Fun Fair and other
activities.
The Senior football and hockey matches took place on Saturday.
In the Premier Division the finalists were Singh Brothers Derby
and GSA who started their campaign by overcoming FC Khalsa
Leicester. There were goals galore for the entertainment of the
supporters with Singh Brothers Derby winning 4 -3. The
Division1 final was between the two East Midlands clubs GNG
Leicester and Singh Brothers Derby who won it with the final
score 3-2. The Over 35s winners were Shere Punjab Birmingham
with West London runners up. The Over 45s final between
Punjab United Derby and Singh Sabha Slough ended goalless.
The East Midland club won on penalties.
RESULTS ADULT SECTION
Premier League Final
Singh Brothers Derby 4
GSA 3
Division 1 Final
Singh Brother Derby 3
GNG Leicester 2
Over 35s Final
Shere Punjab Birmingham 5
West London 2
Over 45s Final
Punjab United Derby 0
Singh Sabha Slough 0
Punjab United Derby won 3-2 on penalties.
Youth Section
A total of 53 Youth teams took part with 7 teams in Under 8s, 10
teams in Under 9s, 17 teams in the Under 11s, 10 teams in Under
13s and 9 teams in the Under 15s division. The Under 8s winners
were GNG Leicester Eagles, Under 11s winners were Singh Sabha
Slough, Under 13s winners were GNG Leicester Hawks and
Milton Keynes All Stars won the Under 15s.
FC Khalsa Leicester started a new Football Academy and were
featured on PTC News International when they held their annual
celebration at Guru Amar Das Gurdwara in December 2023. As
a direct result of benefits of the academy FC Khalsa Leicester
won the Under 9s section by winning all their games in the group
stages against teams from across the UK scoring 10 goals,
conceding none and were unbeaten throughout the tournament.
FC Khalsa&rsquos Coaches Kam Sangha and Harvy Mann commented
&ldquo The final game was very tough game with FC Khalsa showing
great team spirit to come back from a goal down. We won the
final on penalties with great saves from our goalkeeper Freddie.
The winning penalty was taken by Dylan Sangha. The Player of
the Tournament award in the Under 9s section was won by Arvan
Man of FC Khalsa Leicester.&rdquo
One of the senior representative of FC Khalsa Leicester Santokh
Singh said &ldquo This year several former Khalsa players have
launched a Football academy at Judgemeadow Community
College, Leicester and our representation at KFF tournament is a
testament to their commitment and seva. We had the biggest FC
Khalsa representation at the annual Walsall Junior tournament
since the days of our much respected Uncle Jagir Singh Ji with
Under 11s and Under 13s reaching the semi finals and the Under
9s were winners ably coached by Kam Sangha and Harvy Mann.&rdquo
RESULTS
UNDER 8s
1. GNG Leicester Eagles
2. Blue Tigers Derby (The Rams)
3. Nottingham Sikh Lions
UNDER 9s
1. FC Khalsa Leicester
2. GNG Leicester Eagles
3. Queens Park Bedford
UNDER 11s
1. Singh Sabha Slough
2. Queens Park Bedford
3. FC Khalsa Leicester
UNDER !3s
1. GNG Leicester Hawks
2. GNP Coventry
3. Singh Brothers Derby
UNDER 15s
1. Milton Keynes All Stars
2. Singh Brothers Derby
3. Nottingham Sikh Lions
Hockey Tournament
Five Senior teams Barford Tigers HC, Beacon HC, Ramgarhia
Slough, NHA HC and G Nines HC took part in the adult&rsquos section
on Saturday when an exhibition game between London Vets and
Midlands Vets took place at 4pm. The winner of the tournament
received £1000 and the runner up taking £500. Hockey
tournament is in its 12 th year and the main objective is to raise
awareness about the sport, create a competitive environment and
encourage youngsters to play and pursue the sport at a national
level.
Rashpal Singh of KFF said &ldquoIt was a very successful tournament
excellently organised by WASA. Even the weather was good on
Saturday, but the presentation was somewhat spoiled by heavy
rain towards the end. Next stop Birmingham on the weekend of
8 th and 9 th June 2024 at the same venue.&rdquo