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 2nd 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 3rd 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
Please leave your thoughts, memories and comments.
I have known Rizvan for over 10 years, and he was a very knowledgeable and genuine gentleman.
He had a great sense of humor, a person I called my friend and my elder brother, I will miss him a lot.
Still quite shocked by this sudden loss, as I saw him 2 weeks ago at the Nationals, where he looked well, and was his usual joking self.
God bless and RIP mota bhai
Ahh Rizzy – what a lovely man you were. We had many many laughs over the years. He will be sorely missed by all in the badminton world. My condolences to his family with hope that smiles will be back eventually when all those happy memories come to mind.
I was deeply shocked to hear the sad news about Rizvan. I have known him for around 28 years through Line Judging and have found him to be a kind hearted person who would always want to help out where he could. He was a person who had a deep love for the sport of Badminton and was always keen to assist in the Training programme from the early days and will be greatly missed.
RIP Rizvan. It has been a pleasure to know you and thank you for the service you have given to our sport.
Gerry Lewcock
National Training Co-ordinator
Badminton Line Judges Association of England
Real shock….we had so many laughs…helpful with everything…we will miss him.. RIP my friend..
My deepest condolescences to the entire family. I pray the Lords Peace and Hope and Faith during this tough time. What a great guy Rizvan was! He would have me in stitches. You will be greatly missed my friend!!