Sad News – Rizvan Sadikot

Rizvan Sadikot 1959-2021

A Tribute

It was a great shock to learn that my colleague and dear friend Rizvan passed away on the evening of Thursday 2^nd September. He was at the Nationals on 21/22 August, and to hear the sad news just 10 days later on the morning of Friday 3^rd September was indeed devastating to all of us who knew Rizvan well and worked with him on the BLJAofE Committee, and at events. Our sincere condolences go out to his family in this time of great sadness.

Rizvan was a great servant to badminton, serving both the Umpire and Line Judge Associations. He was a committee member of the Badminton Line Judges Association of England, and served on the International Events Selection Sub-committee. His line judging career began in the early 1990s, just before the 1993 World Championships in Birmingham. In nearly 30 years of line judging, he officiated at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002, and at 4 World Championships (1993 and 2003 Birmingham, 1997 Glasgow, 2011 London). He was also a line judge at the English Nationals for many years, the Deputy Manager of Line Judges for 10 years when the event was held in Manchester, and Manager of the event for the 2 years when it was held in Wycombe. Rizvan was also a keen supporter of local and national events, either as a line judge or manager, at events such as the UK School Games, the Under 17 and Under 19 Nationals, and junior and senior Gold events. In addition to all this work, he was also the Training Officer for the Midlands region, and was responsible for training and mentoring many new recruits who have now gone on to become part of a highly competent national line judge team.

Rizvan qualified as an umpire in 1996 and rose to National Grade, now renamed Continental Grade. He umpired at the Nationals and the All England Championships on a number of occasions, as well as other lower grade events. He was an Umpire Assessor for the Midlands region and he was also a referee at Midlands region events. In the midst of being so involved in badminton work, he somehow found time to be a referee for volleyball matches in the Midlands League.

Rizvan’s dedication and his contribution to English badminton was exceptional. The Line Judges Association owes him a great debt for his hard work in officiating, training and management. His infectious laugh and his sense of humour positively affected all of us who worked with him at events, and it made our day so much brighter. We will miss you so much Rizvan. May you rest in peace.

Abby Kumar
President
Badminton Line Judges Association of England

Message from his family

Thank you all for your kind words and messages over the past couple of days, they have been a huge source of comfort for us. We are finalising the funeral arrangements, which is likely to be either the afternoon of Monday 6th Sept or Tuesday 7th Sept. Unfortunately we will not know the exact timings until Monday morning as the cemetery is closed over the weekend but wanted to give you some notice if you would like to attend. As soon as we know, we will share the final details.

The British heart foundation was a charity that meant something to Rizvan. In his memory, if you would like to make a donation, we have set up a just giving page:  https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rizvan-sadikot

Thank you again for your support.

Funeral Details

Date: Monday 6 September
Burial Time: 14:30 (Men only)
Handsworth Cemetery, Oxhill Road, Birmingham, B21 8JT
https://goo.gl/maps/dKj4HsnVQCWA6hhR6

Following the burial we will meet at Fatemi Manzil for the memorial service (approx 3.30).
We ask everyone to please join us there. We kindly ask for heads to be covered with a scarf / hat.

Address: 220 Gooch St, B’ham, B5 7HY
https://goo.gl/maps/14cNyMuGktS46jzw9

There are new CleanAirZone charges for any diesel vehicles pre2016. PLEASE CHECK whether you need to pay!
https://multiple-vehiclecheck-pay.drive-clean-air-zone.service.gov.uk/what_would_you_like_to_do

Parking:
Parking is a bit difficult at present. Please try and car pool where possible. Possible locations are:
• https://goo.gl/maps/bj7rdYcKU7ub276m7
• https://goo.gl/maps/3pmAdNFP59PqY2Gr8
• https://goo.gl/maps/ruCaCbpCDBuPqcGo8

Thank you for all your kind messages. We apologise that we are not able to reply to everyone but please know we have read them all.

For other questions contact:
Kaneez Icke: 07714203485 or Imtiaz Dungarwalla: 07970513758

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