Mangalore, May 17: The much awaited Sri Bhoothanantheshwara Halli Cricket Tournament - II took off to a spectacular start this morning with the formal inauguration attended by Bollywood celebrities Sohail Khan and Avinash Adik.
The four-day tournament, which will conclude on May 20 is organised under the auspices of Sri Bhoothanatheshwara Temple and Sri Bhoothanatheshwara Bhajana Mandali.
As many as 77 village teams have registered for the event and the winner who is determined by knockout matches will gain Rs. 3 lakhs in cash prize. The total value of all cash prizes of the event is over Rs. 6 lakh.
The venue of this limited-overs under arm rubber ball tournament is the playfields adjacent to Sri Bhoothanatheshwara Temple, Badaga Yedapadavu, Mijar in Mangalore taluk.
The inauguration ceremony commenced with the welcome address by Kanthappa Shetty of Sri Bhoothanatheshwara Bhajana Mandali, followed by introductory Address by Vijaynath Vittal Shetty, the chief co-ordinator of the event. Mr. Shetty recalled the success of the first Halli Cricket Tournament held last year and hoped that the people will similarly co-operate this time too with enthusiastic participation and peaceful, disciplined conduct of cricket mela.
The inaugural ceremony was marked by lighting of the lamp by Sohail Khan. Reflecting true grace he courteously passed on the honour to being the first to light the lamp to Mrs. Premalatha Shetty, the elderly mother of the event chief co-Ordinator Vijaynath Vittal Shetty, who was present on the dais.
In his message to the audience, Sohail Khan said he was very happy to attend this unique event and wished the participants all the best.
Echoing the spirit of sportsmanship, he shouted out loud: “May the best team win!” to the delight of the thrilled audience.
Bollywood Producer Avinash Adik, who was the chief guest, was full of praise for Vijaynath Vittal Shetty's love for his home town. “Not everyone who prospers in the big cities will think of doing something for the folks back home. It takes a large heart for a man to do the deeds like what Vijaynath Shetty does,” he said.
It was due to this reason that both he and his film industry colleague Sohail Khan had made it a point to attend the event despite not having slept the entire previous night due to tight shooting schedules, he added.
The crowds were pleasantly surprised when Sohail Khan went aside to change into the Halli Cricket T-Shirt and turban and went to the cricket pitch to face a bombardment of balls from the first contesting team. To everyone's shock and surprise, Khan proved to be an expert batsman as he effortlessly shot sixer after sixer sending the ball soaring into the sky.
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