Bay Area Telugu Association (BATA) organized the 9th Annual BATA Cup Cricket Tournament on July 21st and 22nd 2012 in Fremont, California. BATA donated the proceeds from this event to Sankara Eye Foundation (SEF). BATA is a recognized Partner in Service for SEF. Scopus Consulting Group was the Grand Sponsor for the event. The event sponsors included Ravi Tax Services, Remit2india.com and the platinum sponsors were Channel Real Estate & Mortgage, You Smile Dental, RootShell Technologies. Dosa N Biryani (http://www.dosabiryani.com) catered sumptuous food at the grounds on both days.

There was fantastic response to the tournament this year as well. There were record number of 48 men teams, and 63 games were played in total in the 2 days. With 6-overs-6-aside format, the games were very close and the audience witnessed a lot of nail biter games. The tournament started at 8AM and went all the way through 8PM. The games were played in Fremont on 6 grounds. The enthusiastic spectators (consisting of spouses, children, family & friends) provided a lot of support by cheering their favorite teams. The players responded equally by treating the crowd to a flurry of 4’s and 6’s as well as some excellent bowling & fielding. Overall, the tournament was conducted in a very professional and organized manner to the audience & players delight.

The following are the results from the tournament:
Winners of BATA 2012: Dhokla Power
Runners of BATA 2012: WCW
Man of the Finals: Vishad (Dhokla Power)
MVP of the Tournament: Jaymin ( Dhokla Power)
Maximum Sixes: 10 Pramod (SOS1)

During the award presentation ceremony, Vijaya Aasuri congratulated the winners and runners up and invited BATA Vice President and BATA Cup organizing committee chair Kamesh Malla to do the proceedings. Kamesh invited the sponsors and dignitaries onto the stage. The guests for the presentation included Kishore (Scopus Consulting Group), Gopi Reddy (Channel Real Estate & Mortgage), Jayaram Komati (Ex-TANA President), Gangadhar Nadella (TANA),  Hemarao Nandipati (TANA Regional Vice President), Venkat Maddipati (Sankara Eye Foundation – SEF), Vinay Paruchuri (Dosa n Biryani).

Ravi (Ravi Tax), Gurdeep Suri (Remit2india.com) and Dr Murthy Vuppala (Yousmile Dental) could not attend the award ceremony but extended their wishes to all winners and players. Jayaram Komati speaking at this occasion congratulated BATA and the players for dedication for the game. Venkat Maddipati of SEF thanked BATA for choosing SEF as the beneficiary of the event. He applauded BATA for continued support and partnership for the past several years. He stated that the funds received will play significant role in SEF’s effort to provide free Eye clinical services in India. Mr.Maddipati mentioned that BATA is one of the key supporters and partners of SEF in promoting the cause as well as the fundraising efforts.

Kamesh Malla (BATA Vice President) thanked all the sponsors for their sponsorship to this event. He also thanked all the teams for their participation and support and congratulated the winners and runners. He thanked 100+ volunteers whose help was instrumental in the events success. He also mentioned that it was gratifying to see all the participants trust in the organization and the cumulative belief of everyone in organization like SEF turn this event to what it has become today. He thanked the Cricbay & TCA, the 2 tennis ball cricket organizations in the Bay Area, for their invaluable support for this event and presented mementos for both the organizations.

He thanked all the volunteers and BATA Cup organizing committee members Kalyan Kattamuri, Ravi Thiru, Srinivas Kolli, Veeru Vuppala, Prasad Mangina, Ysahwanth Kudravalli, Sumanth, Ratna, Shiva for executing this event flawlessly.  Kamesh Malla introduced the BATA committee and key team consisting of Dr Ramesh Konda (President), Kalyan Kattamuri (Secretary),  Sirisha Battula (Treasurer), Yaswanth Kudaravalli (Joint Secretary), Jyostna, Sumanth, Kondal, Vijaya Aasuri,  Veeru Vuppala, Karun Veligeti.

Kamesh invited all the volunteer umpires who helped during the tournament. Finally the main awards for the evening, the winners & runners trophies coupled with the individual trophies were awarded to all the teams. Finally BATA team handed over the check to Sankara Eye Foundation. Kamesh also thanked Srinivas from TV9 for the TV Coverage and Srikar Boddu for taking the pictures. BATA promised a much bigger tournament next year on the occasion of 10th annual edition of BATA Cup.

Pictures from the event can be found @  srikarboddu.smugmug.com/Events/07222012-BATA-Cricket-Cup-2012/24363262_xwQjdt