Spornado ’08 encompassed 13 different games played across three days. The games included the likes of volleyball, football, basketball, cricket, chess, carom, table tennis, badminton, lawn tennis, squash, pool and snooker. 63 students from Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi and about an equal number of students from Department of Management Studies, IIT Roorkee had participated in this sports extravaganza. The system of the points tally for the sports meet was such that the games were assigned differential weightages and the institute gaining maximum points at the end would be declared as the overall champion.
Day 1 – January 11, 2008
The event was kicked off on Friday morning by Prof. Zillur Rahman on the Volleyball court. The day followed with an exciting schedule of games lined up between the two institutes.
• Volleyball:
Volleyball was the first game of the event. Teams from both the institutes were pitted against each other for around 45 minutes of exciting play. Finally, DMS, IIT Delhi emerged as the winners by defeating DoMS, IIT Roorkee by the margin of 2-0 DMS, IITD gained 30 points from this win.
• Pool & Snooker:
Pool and Snooker were held at the UG club of IIT Roorkee with around 9 participants from each institute fighting for victory. After many exciting rounds, Sachin Dhawan from DoMS, IIT Roorkee emerged as the final winner of Pool and Snooker, thus crediting 40 points to the tally of DoMS, IIT Roorkee.
• Carrom:
Carrom was again held at the UG club of IIT Roorkee. Each institute consisted of 5 players who were pitted against each other in various combinations, i.e. singles/doubles. Players from DoMS, IIT Roorkee proved to be too good for those from DMS, IIT Delhi for them to provide any threat. Led by Sachin Ambade, the Carrom captain of DoMS, IIT Roorkee, IITR comprehensively defeated IITD by 4 games to 1. This led to addition of 25 points to the tally of DoMS, IIT Roorkee.
• Lawn Tennis:
Lawn Tennis was the other outdoor event held on the first day of the event. Held on the lawn tennis courts of the sports complex of IIT Roorkee, the game comprised of 5 players from each institute playing against each other in singles and doubles’ formats. DMS, IITD looked very well prepared and they deservedly won the game beating DoMS, IIT Roorkee by 3 games to 1. Lawn Tennis awarded 30 points to DMS, IIT Delhi.
• Football:
Being the last and perhaps the most awaited game of Day 1, football was to be played under lights at the football stadium of IIT Roorkee. The match began around 6-30 p.m. with a huge crowd supporting the home team. Inspired by the crowd support and an electrifying atmosphere, the football team of DoMS, IIT Roorkee, put up a splendid show by beating DMS, IIT Delhi by 1-0. The football win led to an addition of 30 points to the overall points’ tally of DoMS, IIT Roorkee.
Thus, Day 1 belonged to DoMS, IIT Roorkee with an overall tally of 95 points while DMS, IIT Delhi was put on at 60 points with 2 wins to their credit.
Day 2 – January 12, 2008
• Badminton:
Day 2 began with the most popular of the indoor sports, viz. Badminton, played at the Badminton courts at the IIT R sports complex. With 9 players from each side pitted against each other, a hard fought contest was on cards with 30 points at stake. Players from DMS, IIT Delhi once again demonstrated their mastery in racket games by defeating DoMS, IIT Roorkee by 5 matches to 3. DMS, IIT Delhi bagged 30 points with their Badminton victory.
• Cricket:
Day 2 was scheduled with the most important or rather, the mother of all games in India, viz. Cricket. Along with 30 points, pride and prestige were also at stake in this game. Scheduled at 2 p.m. the match began at the Cricket stadium of IIT Roorkee. On winning the toss, DoMS, IIT R, elected to bat first. With several twists and turns, DoMS, IIT R managed a score of 120/7 in their scheduled 16 overs. With their superior bowling and fielding, led by their captain Trushin Barai, DoMS, IIT R sustained a constant pressure on the batsmen from DMS, IITD. Unable to tackle IITR’s aggression, IITD managed to score only 108 runs from their allotted quota of 16 overs, thus losing to DoMS, IIT R by 12 runs. With an inspiring cricket win, DoMS, IIT Roorkee added 30 points to their overall points’ tally.
• Basketball (Girls):
The last game of Day 2, the girls’ basketball match perhaps saw the highest amount of excitement from the both the institutes. In an interesting contest between the two sides, DoMS, IIT Roorkee was able to suppress the initial aggression from DMS, IIT Delhi. DoMS, IITR had a better team than their counterparts and eventually defeated DMS, IIT Delhi to bag 20 welcome points to their overall tally.
At the end of Day 2, DoMS, IIT Roorkee stood at a healthy 145 points while DMS was able to manage only 90 points. Thus, Day 2 again belonged to DoMS, IIT Roorkee. Day 2 was also marked by the arrival of the sports coordinator from DMS, IIT Delhi, Dr. K. Momaya, who had come along with his family to be a part of the sporting event.
Day 3 – January 13, 2008
The final day of the sports meet was going to decide the overall champions of Spornado ’08. With squash, table tennis and men’s basketball lined up in the day, the event was moving towards a close finish.
• Squash:
DMS, IIT Delhi had mastery in the racket games and this was again demonstrated in the squash matches, held at the squash courts of IIT Roorkee’s sports complex. Barring Colonel Vivekanand Chowdhary, no player from DoMS, IIT R was able to win a squash game against his counterpart from DMS, IIT Delhi. With their superior game, DMS, IIT Delhi defeated DoMS, IIT Roorkee by 4 games to 1 and thus bagged 25 points to their overall tally.
• Chess:
This event, which was held across the 3 days in stages, saw a clash of grandmasters from both the institutes. With close encounters in each of the games, the event comprised of some nervous moments, which added to the spice of the event. Eventually, DMS, IIT Delhi defeated DoMS, IIT Roorkee with an overall difference of 1 point and thus bagged 20 points to their tally.
• Table Tennis:
In contrast to the other racket games, this was one game in which DoMS, IIT Roorkee had an upper hand. Held at the table tennis courts of IIT Roorkee’s sports complex, this event consisted of 8 players from each side pitting against each other for 25 valuable points. A win in this event would have ensured the overall championship win for DoMS, IIT Roorkee. Well aware of this fact, players from DoMS, IIT Roorkee drew extra inspiration and defeated DMS, IIT Delhi by 4 games to 1 and thus bagged the Overall Title in their kit.
• Basketball (Men’s):
With the overall winners already decided, both the sides were playing this game for pride. While DoMS, IIT Roorkee had nothing to lose, DMS IIT Delhi were eager to salvage their lost pride to some extent by winning the final event of Spornado’08. With what eventually constituted as to be one of the most balanced encounters in three days of the event, DMS, IIT Delhi defeated DoMS, IIT Roorkee by 1 point. The final scores of both the sides stood at 35-34 in the favor of DMS, IIT Delhi. With this win, DMS, IIT D raised their overall points’ tally by 30 points.
At the end of all the games, the overall points’ tally for both the institutes was as follows:
DoMS, IIT Roorkee 170 points
DMS, IIT Delhi 165 points
DoMS, IIT Roorkee was declared as the winner of Spornado ’08.