The Press Release

From: Surya S
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 22:43:06 +0530
Subject: press writeup for External Linkage by me.. on XL-IIMC

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"This was supposed to be a cakewalk!! What happened?? "The entire IIMCians were left with this question as the two day battle for the XL-IIMC trophy came to an end.

XLRI convincingly claimed the trophy by beating the IIMCians 13-8. "We knew we could win the trophy the moment we won the cricket match against all odds. To chase a run rate close to six is always a challenge. But our players rose to the occasion and gave it all they have got" said a visibly charged Pradeep Mamak of the Sports Committee. "The defining moment was winning the badminton match against them, who had a player who represented India in the international arena." He added.

The XL-IIMC trophy was mutually agreed upon by the students' councils of both colleges as they felt the need to underline the importance of this event. The annual clash is unparalleled in the history of Indian B-Schools, with both sides starting the preparations months before the actual event. The venue of the event alternates between XLRI and IIMC every year; with the faculty and administration on both sides providing ample support and autonomy to the students.

The campus was charged from the moment the IIMCians landed at XLRI. No effort was too much to ensure that the guests had a great time off the field, even though XLRI summarily thrashed their guests in the arena. The first event was women's throw ball which was won by the XLers, and as the games progressed with a score of 4-0; the XLers were beginning to think in terms of victory. But IIMC fought back and leveled the scores by the end of the first day, which made the events all the more exciting and closely fought.

What is the USP of this batch of XLers? "Good players, great crowd support and no politics regarding the team selections " Pradeep sums up. " But the deciding factor was the girls. Our women played really well. Also they offered tremendous crowd support, turning out in large numbers to boost the players. Nothing can beat the fact that your friends are cheering for you from the sidelines irrespective of the time of the day."

What are the plans for the future? Navinder Singh Dullat, the SportsComm secretary who also took part in the men's basketball (which, needless to say, XLRI won) elaborates: "Lots of spectator sports like swimming, water polo, long jump high jump etc. could be included but for the lack of training facilities. We lost out on those events like volleyball and tennis which we do not have facilities to practice regularly. We lost those events not due to lack of talent, but due to lack of training."

"I would like to thank S.J Augustine the faculty advisor for SportsComm and S.J James for their guidance and support. Being sportsmen themselves, they were as enthusiastic as we were and helped us out with the entire event" Dullat explains. "Also, the sponsor for the event was Tata Tinplate, headed by Mr. Bhushen Raina. He is an alumnus of XLRI and also the National Head of our alumni network. This is the best gift that we could have given him."

Another interesting factor was the drumming that IIMC got in the only two intellectual events in the whole event: chess (3-0) and bridge. The comprehensive victory is celebrated by the XLRI family with the usual enthusiasm and cheer.

The college bands of XLRI and IIMC named Bodhi Tree and JBS treated the students to a musical night. The guests bid adieu to XLRI in the early hours of Monday extending invitations for the meet which is to happen next year at Jokka, and also promising a tougher fight to the finish next year.

But till then, XLRI celebrates.

Surya S
Junior Executive Member
External Linkages Cell
XLRI, Jamshedpur

E Mail: exlink@xlri.ac.in