09 January, 2018, Bengaluru: ‘Sangharsh’, the inter-IIM sports fest, between IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta and Lucknow, was hosted by IIM Bangalore on the 5th, 6th and 7th of January, 2018. The three days of Sangharsh 2018 were filled with enthusiasm, excitement, competitive spirit and passion. The fight for the prestigious trophy managed to bring out the best out of all contingents as well as the crowd.
Day 1
The 12th edition of Sangharsh was inaugurated at IIM Bangalore on January 05, 2018 with Anshul Kothari, member of the Indian swimming team, as the chief guest for the inauguration ceremony. Urging the students to pursue their dreams and not worry about money, he recalled his college days when his career goal of becoming a swimmer was not taken seriously by his classmates. But it was his grit and determination that led to his inclusion in the national team for the Commonwealth Games 2010, Asian Games 2010 & 2014 teams and the Gold medal winning teams of both Asian Age Group Championships 2011 and 2015.
Professor G. Raghuram, Director, IIM Bangalore, expressed his excitement at witnessing the passion displayed by the participants for the event, and said, “Put your best foot forward and keep the spirit of competition and sportsmanship alive”.
Prof. Padmini Srinivasan, Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Management, IIM Bangalore, highlighted the importance of sports in the stressful schedule of MBA students, and advised them to make it a habit to participate in sports activities.
Prof. M S Narasimhan, Dean Administration, IIM Bangalore, shared that devoting time and resources for the new sports complex and coaches over the past two years is paying off well and congratulated Sangharsh for promoting collaboration among the IIMs.
This edition of Sangharsh was a landmark event for women’s sports, with nine events exclusively for women and five events with mixed teams.
IIM Bangalore hosts Sangharsh 2018 between January 05 – 08. Student representatitives from IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta
and IIM Lucknow along with Prof. Padmini Srinivasan, Prof M S Narasimhan and Prof. G Raghuram, Director, IIM Bangalore.
Day 2
On Day 2 of Sangharsh 2018, the IIMB campus rang with cheers, as a series of hard-fought matches managed to bring the busy MBA students to the field.
IIMA won the opening match of the three-day event, defeating the hosts 1-0 in the men’s football league match. However, IIMB’s women’s cricket team turned the tables on their IIMA counterparts, knocking them out by winning by 7 wickets.
IIMC’s badminton teams had the perfect start to their campaigns, as they defeated both IIMA’s men and women teams. IIML’s women’s badminton team won both the matches. Their men’s badminton team, however, lost to the hosts in a close 2-3 defeat.
Like their women’s badminton team, IIML’s men’s basketball team have enjoyed their run so far, having defeated IIMA and IIMC. IIMB’s men’s basketball team defeated IIMA but lost to IIMC. IIML’s women’s basketball team pipped their IIMC counterparts in the league match, winning by a close margin of 8-7. IIMA’s women’s basketball team were crushed by the hosts 11-19, but bounced back to defeat IIML 29-21.
IIML’s chess team emerged out to be the dominant team in the League 1 roundup, winning two and drawing one of their three matches. However, their carrom team could not repeat such a performance on the board, as they lost to the hosts 1-3.
The host’s men’s football team dominated over their IIMC counterparts on the field throughout the match, comfortably winning by a 2-0 margin. Their women’s futsal team was impressive too, knocking out IIMA 1-0.
IIMB’s volleyball contingent had a dream start, as their men’s team defeated IIML, while their women’s team cruised past IIML and IIMA. The hosts were, however, knocked out by IIMA in the hockey tournament, losing 0-1 in a hard-fought match. Their squash, tennis and throwball counterparts have not failed to impress though, having won all their matches so far.
Day 3
As the fight for the prestigious Sangharsh 2018 trophy continued, the level of enthusiasm and excitement from the contingents and crowd reached its peak by Day 3, held on January 07, 2018.
The first final of the edition was of men’s swimming between all four IIMs, where IIMB bagged gold on the home turf. IIMC’s women’s swimming team were not far behind, as they swam to bag the first gold for their contingent.
IIMB’s women’s table tennis team beat IIML in a hard-fought final to clinch the gold. IIML’s table tennis contingent lost to IIMA in their men’s final. However, in the racquet sports, they won gold medals in women’s badminton and squash tournaments, defeating IIMC and IIMB in the finals, respectively.
IIML’s men’s cricket team, which had knocked out the hosts on the previous day, registered a comprehensive victory against IIMA in the finals to win yet another gold. IIMA had to face another loss in the final, as their throwball team went down against the hosts in a thrilling final, where the score was 24-24 in the final set at one point of time. However, their kabaddi contingent won gold medals in both men’s and women’s competitions, the only pair of men’s and women’s teams to do so.
Defending champions IIMC looked to be sailing to a successful title defense, as their men’s badminton and basketball teams cruised towards gold medals. However, their women’s volleyball team was stunned by their IIMB counterparts in the final, as the hosts’ team overturned a 0-9 deficit in the first set into a straight-set victory.
IIMB’s contingent raised hopes for winning the trophy on their home turf, as their carrom, men’s tennis and women’s basketball teams claimed gold medals. However, it was IIMC’s men’s badminton, men’s basketball, men’s volleyball and frisbee teams which secured gold medals late in the day.
Women’s cricket, khokho, women’s futsal, women’s tennis, and hockey, which were being contested for the first time in the history of Sangharsh, maybe have been non-medal sports, but their final matches were thrilling nonetheless. Victories in these competitions were shared between IIMA and IIMB, as the hosts won women’s cricket, women’s futsal and khokho, while IIMA won the remaining two.
IIMA, which has won the trophy the maximum number of five times in the event history, had a disappointing visit as they missed out on gold medals eight times in this edition. As the day passed, the IIMB campus was ringing with “Joka! Joka!” chants, as the defending champions IIMC retained the coveted trophy.
