BERRY HILLS Indian Basketball League Tournament 2015 to start on April 17

DUBAI- April 12, 2015: The tenth edition of BERRY HILLS Indian Basketball League Tournament will begin on Friday, April 17, 2015 evening. The matches will be played in Salah Al Deen Indoor Sports Hall, near Century Mall in Al Mamzar, Dubai. Organised by the Indian Basketball Society (IBS) - UAE, the BERRY HILLS Tournament 2015 will feature a total of 36 teams taking part in the event.

A total of 82 matches will be played during the 40-day long Tournament, in which around 450 players and coaches will represent various clubs and institutions. Out of the 36 teams, 10 teams will be playing in the Men’s matches, four teams in the Women’s matches, nine teams in the Under-19 Inter School Boys’ matches, eight teams in the Under 13 Boys matches and five teams in the Under-13 Girls matches. The Men’s matches will be held on Thursday and Friday evenings, while the Women’s matches will be played on Friday evenings and the Under-13 and U-19 matches on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

BERRY HILLS, a leading oats and jam brand distributed through Jaleel Distribution LLC, is the title sponsor of 10th IBS League.

Commenting on the Tournament, Mr. G Vijaykumar, Honorary Secretary of the IBS-UAE, said, 'We are happy to announce the 10th edition of the IBS League Tournament. This year, we are showcasing 36 teams competing in the event. This Tournament has grown in its popularity every year. The men’s team players in the BERRY HILLS IBS League Tournament are current and former Indian national, state and university players, who are currently employed in the UAE.” 

“The Women’s team players are mostly from various colleges or universities in the UAE; and senior High School Students and young Physical Education teachers from various schools are also part of the teams. The U-13 Boys and U-13 Girls matches are open to all nationalities playing under the banner of clubs or institutions in the UAE,” he added. 

Mr. Sameer K Mohamed, Managing Director of Jaleel Holdings and patron of the IBS League, said, “I am delighted to be associated with the BERRY HILLS IBS League Tournament, which aims to promote the sports culture by creating awareness among the children on the importance of physical activities to follow a healthy lifestyle.”

“We are keen on promoting and boosting sports activities at corporate level as well. This, in turn, would elevate the employees’ performance, increase their enthusiasm to evolve, excel and innovate. A strong sports culture would have a positive impact on them in terms of productivity and fitness. Our strategy is in line with the approach of the country’s prudent leaders, who constantly stress the importance of sports and ensure to providing all means of support to the sports enthusiasts,” he added. 

The matches for Men, U-13 Boys and U-13 Girls will compete for the Berry Hills Trophy, while the Women’s teams and U-19 Inter School Boys teams will play for trophies in the name of Co-Sponsors. The trophies, individual prizes and merit certificates will be given to the teams which achieve the First, Second and Third places. The fixtures were drawn on April 4 at Sharjah BlueBell Nursery campus in the presence of the team coaches and managers. Ten teams for the Men’s matches are divided into two Pools - 20 league matches plus Semi Finals, Losers Finals and Finals.

The teams in Pool-A include Knights-Dubai; Duplast Falcons City Fives; Hoopers; Beatrice and BlueBell-Sharjah. The Pool B teams include ANF All Stars; Blue Rhine Eagles; Cromwell UK City Stars; Warriors and Pond Parkers -Al Ghusais. The U-19 Inter School Boys category includes nine teams, which are divided into two Pools - 16 league matches plus Semi Finals, Losers Finals and Finals. The Pool-A includes DPS-Dubai, Our Own School Sharjah, NIMS-Dubai, DPS-Sharjah and Emirates National School -Sharjah. Pool-B: Indian High School-Dubai, NIMS-Sharjah, Our Own High School-Al Warqa and Gulf Indian School-Dubai. 

The U-13 Boys include eight teams, which are divided into two Pools - 12 league matches plus Semi Finals, Losers Finals and Finals. The Pool-A includes DPS-Dubai, NIMS-Dubai and NIMS City Sparks. Pool-B: Indian High School-Dubai, DPS-Sharjah, NIMS-Sharjah and Model School-Abu Dhabi. The U-13 Girls category will have five teams: Round Robin League - 10 league matches, two Semi Finals and Finals. The players are from DPS-Sharjah, DPS-Dubai, GEMS Our Own School-Dubai, Indian High School-Dubai and Ibn Seena English School-Sharjah. The Women’s category will have four teams: Round Robin League six matches plus two Semi Finals and Finals. The teams include Earnest Eagles, DPS-Sharjah, Arabian Gazelles and Dubai Angels. 

Special Trophies and Gift Vouchers will be given to the Most Valuable Players (3 Nos), the Most Promising Players (3 Nos) U-13 Promising Players (8 Nos), Top Scorers (3 Nos); the Best Post Players (3 Nos), the Best Defensive Players (3 Nos) and the Best 3-Point Shooters (3 Nos). Fixtures and results will be available on Indian Basketball Society’s (UAE) Face Book page. 

Other patrons of the 10th IBS League include Dr. Sunny Kurian (Managing Director - Dr. Sunny’s Health Care Group, and Mr. Suneel Aggarwal (MD - GRP Industries). The Tournament is also supported by KEF Holdings, Indian Academy- Dubai, Kedar Dental Care, Skyline University College- Sharjah, Arabian Coast, and Eiffel Printing Press - Sharjah.

The press meet, held in Dubai, was also attended by the IBS-UAE officials -- Mr. Rajan Job (President), Mr. T Ali (Technical Committee Chairman), Mr. Sanjay Benjamin (Treasurer), Mr. Deepak Prakash Kochattil, and Mr. Jose K Mathai (Joint Secretary).