While the world sleeps, the Knight Riders rule the night. It all started with a mail for participation at Akshayam 2012, the sports cum cultural fest at MDI, Gurgaon and so, when most people were sleeping last night in their cozy blankets, there was this group of around 24 people all excited and pumped up to challenge the best management teams of India.
Basketball (2200 hrs):The day started with a very enthusiastic performance on the basketball field where Great Lakers had one of the close matches of the tournament till now. The only glitch being the captain Varun Anand from PGPM 1 year getting injured and dislocating his shoulder. He was rushed to the hospital then and there and has been advised bed rest for a few weeks now. Despite getting injured, his words were all to cheer up his team mates while leaving the field, that what SPORTMANSHIP is all about. Piyush from 1st year energy batch stepped up to responsibility and despite landing on the other side, Great Lakers left the field with pride. The final score 49 – 38 in the favor of our opponents.
Badminton (2340 hrs): The focus then moved on to the Badminton courts but despite some valiant efforts in the court by the captain, Rohit Parimal the team could not move past the pre quarter finals. The final score 3 – 0 to the opponents.
Table Tennis (0200 hrs): With the confidence a little shaky after two first round exits and one important member of the sports contingent getting injured, it was left upto captain Kiran Lingam(PGPM 1 year) to lift up the spirits of all with a win against a stronger Narsi Munji Team from Mumbai in table tennis. Kiran delivered what the doctor just ordered, a flurry of top spins to the right, whacking back hand shots and his impeccable services left the NMIMS team stunned as he toppled their Rank 1 player. Despite losing a close ladies singles match(2 sets to 1) and a valiant mixed doubles, the college bounced back with the duo of Kiran Lingam and Mohit Taneja(PGPM 1 year) in men’s doubles. So it was all left upto Mohit Taneja to win the decider mens singles match. Mohit played the match with his trademark finesse and with his clinical serves and clean shots, left the opponents speechless. He won the match with 3 sets to nil, with the score in the final set being 11-0. The final score , Great Lakers play the quarter finals at 1700 hrs today.
Football: The positivity of the table tennis spread through to the football team and they won a challenging first round match with the score being 4-2 in penalty shoot outs. In quarters, they met the team from NMIMS, Mumbai in the quarter finals. The match started on an even note and both the quarters saw some good attacking moves set up by Mathew, Nitin (1 yr PGPME) for Rohit Parimal (PGPM 1 year) and some good strong defense by Jitendra Lakhwani, Mithun, Sudhanshu (PGPM 1 year). The score after the final whistle being nil all, the match entered the penalty shootouts. This time luck just happened to slip through out hands and a valiant effort saw the score line reading 4-2 in favour of NMIMS. The Man of the match(Based on the team feedback) being Mr. Rohit Singh (1 Year PGPM), the goal keeper.
And yes, not to forget the efforts of our special cheer leading team , lead by Vivek Sankhyan(PGPM 1 year) and Karanjot (PGPME 1st Year) and ably supported by all crew members. The heights of dedication and passion are shown by our football team members, when all of them chose to stay there for their next futsal match at 0700 hrs.
Great Lakes Institute of Management 