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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Hockey coach Naqvi reaches milestone

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Hockey personality SAS Naqvi has completed 35 years of coaching and sports consultant role in Oman.


Naqvi arrived in the Sultanate on July 1, 1982 after serving more than 35 years in his native country, India as a player, coach ,umpire and sports administrator. “I joined Oman as it national hockey coach and that role had changed my course of life,” Naqvi said.


“It has been really inspiring with His Majesty Sultan Qaboos leading the nation and Oman has become my second home,” the hockey enthusiast said.


“I would like to thank Dr Hammad Hamed al Ghafri, Eng. Dawood Ahmed al Raisi, Abdullah Hamed al Ali, Shaikh Soud al Rawahi, Eng. Habib Macki, Salim Abdullah al Masroori and the people of Oman for accepting in their fold,” he said.


All these years, Naqvi had maintained a museum of sports at his residence, which includes hockey, Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international events.


The lifetime collection will soon be relocated to another place where Naqvi will also shift his residence.


Among the laurels that came Naqvi’s way is the Lifetime Achievement Award by Asian Hockey Federation (AHF).


The International Hockey Federation (IHF) and AHF had selected Naqvi for the Lifetime Achievement Award for his 75 years of contribution to hockey.


Naqvi, during his stay in Oman, had established the Oman Olympic Committee (OOC) in 1983 and given the charges as the technical adviser from 1984 to 2003. This is the unique record with him that he accompanied the Olympic delegation of Oman in 1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Games. He had also helped in the preparation for the 1984 Los Angles and Athens 2004. He has also the distinction to accompany the Asian Games delegations to 1982 Delhi (as chief hockey coach) 1986 Seoul, 1990 Beijing, 1994 Hiroshima, 1998 Bangkok and made preparation for the 2002 Asian Game at Pusan.

He was the coach of Indian women’s teams for the Madrid World Cup 1978 and a tour of Holland, France and Britain.


Naqvi has been awarded the Indo-Oman friendship award by the former Indian ambassador Anil Wadhwa and presented by the then minister of sports affairs Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy at the Embassy of India in 2010. Among other awards, Naqvi had won Rajiv Gandhi Award in New Delhi and in 2014, Indian Social Club, Muscat had honoured him with the Man of the Year Award.


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