sport
The Sharjah Labour Sports tournament was launched on at the sports fields of the Sharjah National Park. Image Credit: Supplied

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

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.

Strong competition

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 Salem Yousef Al Qaseer 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.”

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.

Cricket matches

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 won Bee’ah-2 team by 10 wickets, 48-0, 44-10, and the Globalink West Star team won Team Americana by 10 wickets, 0-65, 52-5, and the Sharjah Airport team over the HMS Hospital Dubai team by10 wickets as well, 32-0, 31-10.

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