Batch 2020 retains ITS trophy

The 2019 edition of SCMC’s annual inter-batch sports meet, In True Spirit (ITS) took place from January 28-30, in the Symbiosis Old and New Viman Nagar Campus. The matches took place in the morning and evening on the first two days, with the third day being entirely dedicated to the event.

However, the Badminton and Swimming tournaments took place at the Lavale Campus on January 18 and the Table Tennis tournament was held in the Viman Nagar A-Wing hostel on January 19.

The winners of each sport earned five points while second and third place finishes rewarded three and one points respectively. In the end, with a total of 50 points, Batch 2020 were declared winners of ITS 2019. 2021 finished second with 46 points and 2019 stood third with 30 points.

Football witnessed the largest audience turnout at ITS. The opening match, 2021 vs. 2020 saw brilliant defending from both sides, but 2021 ended up with two horrific own goals and lost the game. They played 2019 next and the match ended with an equalised score. 2019 won the penalty shootout. With one win each under their belts 2020 and 2019 took to the field in the final that was without any goals at full-time, but was hardly uneventful on-field. The aggressive match ended in 2020’s favour, and they were hailed football champions for ITS 2019.

As the red dust settled in the football field, the crowd moved to the SLS basketball court, where Batch 2020 won both their round matches clinched the trophy with a victory against batch 2019. The women’s basketball was won by newcomers Batch 2021 led by captain, Rajreeta Ghosh.

The first round of tennis matches for ITS 2019 were the Women’s singles. Martina Das (2020) won her first match against Janaki Tulshibagwale (2021) who won her match against Kadambari Zokarkar (2019). Martina brought home the women’s title with a four set win over Kadambari in the final match. The men’s singles title was won by Shiva Kumar of Batch 2019 with wins against Anmol Das (2020) and Jainil Shastri (2021).

The Women’s Box Cricket League of ITS'19 witnessed some nail-biting matches with Batch 2021winning the title. The tournament ended with an emotional guard of honor to Batch 2019.

The ITS Boys Cricket saw all three teams with one win each after the rounds. The tournament went to the decider Superovers with Batch 2021 winning both theirs and lifting the title. Sukrit and Shivansh, co-captains of the SCMC cricket team, passed on their position to Jainil and Shashwat of Batch 2021.

Meanwhile, Batch 2020 and 2021 met in the first futsal match of ITS 2019. Both teams had a strong defence strategy, the game ended without either of the teams scoring, resulting in a penalty shootout. The match ended with 2021 victorious by two goals. Batch 2019 won the second match with a score of 1-0. And they defeated Batch 2021 in the final to be crowned winners of futsal for ITS 2019.

The table tennis matches saw fierce competition between all the three batches. Batch 2019, represented by Ansh Pherwani and Ayushi Sheth, won the men’s singles against both batches; women’s singles against Batch 2020 and mixed doubles against Batch 2020. And Batch 2021 represented by Bavana Gone and Rohan Chakraborty, won the women’s singles against both batches, mixed doubles against both batches and men’s singles against batch 2020.

The first round of Throwball for ITS 2019 started with the girls’ teams with Batch 2020 defeating 2021. The second game saw intense competition between Batch 2019 and 2021 with the former clinching a narrow victory with the aid of their captain Disha Hans. The final matchup ended with 21-10, 21-11 victory for Batch 2020.

The participants huddled beside the pool in Lavale in chilly weather for the swimming competition. It started off with 25m freestyle with wins for Avinash Ghosh (‘21) and Yukta Wane (‘20). Then, 25m backstroke with Tanmay Madhukar (‘20) and Yukta Wane (‘20) defeating the two other batches proudly. Ashish Prakash (‘20) and Yukta Wane (‘20) winded up as winners in 25m butterfly and Ashish Prakash (‘20) and Sanam Buxani (‘20) won in 25m breastroke. Batch 2020 won the freestyle relay and were crowned the swimming champions for ITS 2019.

The volleyball tournament saw Batch 2020 pitted against 2019 in the final match which they won 25-6, 25-16.

The Battle of the Batches continued in a series of fierce showdowns on the Badminton courts. The singles matches were dominated by wins from 2020 and 2021, with first years Anantjeet Singh Dutt and Sanuja Sunil winning three of the six matches and the other half being dominated by Ria Sharma and Vikram Verma from 2020.

The final day of ITS saw the Athletics events in the 100m, 200m and 400 m for boys and girls, and 800m race for boys and a mixed relay race. Batch 2020 dominated the events winning all but the 100m boys’ sprint which was won by Jainil of Batch 2021.

The cricket match of ITS 2019 between the faculty and the outgoing batch was a fitting finale to the event. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Team Faculty’s openers put on a clinical display. The professors, who all entered to thunderous ovations, kept the scoreboard ticking with their brisk running between the wickets. The final score posted was 82-4.

The second innings began disastrously for the opposition, with Anand taking two wickets in quick succession. Gupta and Shastri played gutsy knocks to regain some momentum. Prof. Arya put a dent in their progress by bagging two crucial wickets. The late gasp from the faculty team proved insufficient; as Thimmaya and Das then quickly won the match for the students. Packed with fours and sixes the match was an entertainer for all present.