Bonding over football

THE Central Sikh Gurdwara held a football event on July 26 to commemorate the 159th death anniversary of soldier-saint Bhai Maharaj Singh.

The Bhai Maharaj Inter Gurdwara Football Tournament 2015 saw more than 60 teams participating in six different categories - junior champs (for those aged 10 and below), boys under-14, boys under-18, men's open, men's veteran and women's open.

Held at the St Wilfrid Sports Complex in the Whampoa area, the tournament attracted about 600 Sikhs and was attended by Senior Minister of State for Law and Education Indranee Rajah and MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC Inderjit Singh.

Ms Indranee spoke about the importance of community bonding through sports.

She also stressed that football, besides being a competitive sport, is also a team game that encourages a lot of team effort.

The highlight of the event was honouring Singapore's national football heroes. Ms Indranee presented lifetime achievement awards to ex-international players V. Sundramoorthy, R. Suriamurthi and T. Pathmanathan for their outstanding contributions to Singapore football.

Another ex-international player S. Subramani received the outstanding achievement award while ex-national player Raj Inder Singh Gill was awarded the Sikh achievement award.

In addition, ex-national under-21 captain Delwinder Singh received the Sikh achievement award for promising Sikh national football player.

The Bhai Maharaj's 159th anniversary was a month-long celebration that began with a religious congregation.

Other events in conjunction with the celebrations included a blood donation drive, a visit to an old folk's home and a children's party.

Get a copy of tabla! for more stories.