JEDDAH — Elaf Jeddah Hotel has launched Elaf Super-7, 2015 tournament to encourage domestic cricket in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The tournament, which will kick off Thursday, will be played under the auspicious of United Premier League (UPL) here. The launching ceremony was held at Elaf Jeddah Hotel and was graced by its officials Shuaib Bin Mahfouz, vice president HR; Mahfooz Hussain, CFO; Ehtisham Waris, director operations, captains of the participating teams, executive members of UPL and the media. This 7-over blast marks one of the high-profile initiatives by Elaf in domestic cricket to gradually make inroads into mainstream cricket. The five-week competition has 16 prominent clubs of Jeddah. The teams are divided into 4 groups. The matches will be played on a round-robin basis with two top teams from each group qualifying for the quarterfinals. Two beautifully crafted trophies were unveiled by Bin Mahfouz and Hussain during the ceremony which also witnessed transparent draw, held through computer in the presence of teams' representatives. Live update of the tournament will be available on UPL website uplksa.com. Hamid Afandim executive adviser UPL, thanked the media for the support which creates awareness among the Saudis. Waris said: “We are passionate about cricket and are very much excited about forming a major collaboration with UPL. This sponsorship shows our trust toward UPL and we hope it will help further in developing cricket in the Kingdom.” Niyas Arakal, chairman of UPL, thanked sponsors Elaf, participating teams, players, UPL executive committee and the media. Elaf has fielded three teams — Elaf Gold, Elaf Red and Elaf Blue — in the competition. The other teams are Lothers Green, Target Guys, Jeddah Indians, Al-Max-1, Tech Yorker-1, Tech Yorker-2, Niagara Lothers, Rising Stars, Youngstars, Sri Lankan Titans, Waheed-XI, Jeddah Kerry Packers and Al-Max-2. — SG
