BAPS Charities organised a national indoor cricket tournament, the ‘Yogi Yuva Cup’, held at Harrow Leisure Centre and BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London on Sunday 23 April 2023.
This year marked the 23rd anniversary of the tournament. 36 teams and over 285 players aged between 16 and 50 from around England and as far wide as Belfast (Ireland), Antwerp (Belgium) and Germany participated on the day.
The top 12 teams from the group stages plus the best four runners-up progressed to the last-16 of the Yogi Yuva Cup and the remaining eight second-placed teams entered the Plate competition.
The teams that progressed in the two competitions then faced off in some further competitive and challenging games.
The pick of the last-16 games in the Yogi Yuva Cup was Barnet A vs Brent-Harrow A, which was worthy of being a final with two of the front-runners facing each other at the first knockout stage. Defending cup-holders Barnet A came out winners.
In the Plate competition, East London dominated with three teams making it through to the semi-finals where South East London B could not do enough to stop an all-East London final with East London D facing East London B.
Meanwhile, in the Yogi Yuva Cup, Barnet A swept aside Wellingborough A to comfortably reach yet another final. Meanwhile, West London A came through a close game to beat surprise semi-finalists Antwerp to reach the final.
The East London derby in the Plate competition final was won by East London D.
The much-anticipated Yogi Yuva Cup final saw favourites and winners of the last four tournaments face off against a strong West London A side, which would prove more competitive than last year’s final.
Barnet A, batting first, could only score 46, which left West London A thinking of getting their hands on the trophy.
However, the experience of longstanding winners Barnet A came to the forefront and West London A could only manage 36 during the pressure run chase.
The hugely successful event encouraged youths and adults leading busy lifestyles to engage in some healthy activity and helped develop positive community relations.
Every team contributed to high-quality cricket, providing positive entertainment and competitiveness that was played with a spirit of unity and sportsmanship.
Notable individual and team performances for 2023 include:
Yogi Yuva Cup Winners: Barnet A
Yogi Yuva Cup Runners-Up: West London A
Yogi Yuva Cup Bowler of the Final: Chintu Depala
Yogi Yuva Cup Batsman of the Final: Himanshu Depala
Yogi Yuva Cup Plate Winners: East London D
Yogi Yuva Cup Plate Runners-Up: East London B
