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Corporates make a splash
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Away from the rigours of work, employees fight it out for a beach volleyball trophy
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TAKING A BREAK At the beach volleyball tournament
From desks in air-conditioned offices with eyes glued to computers to beach volleyball courts at Radisson Resort Temple Bay, Mamallapuram, it was a sea change for teams that sweated it out to bag the Radisson Temple Bay Beach Volleyball Corporate Challenge Trophy recently. The first of its kind beach volley ball tournament organised by Radisson Resort Temple Bay was a ‘tribute’ of sorts to its corporate customers, said its CEO Natarajan.
Says its vice-president Vikram Cotah: “It’s a resort that offers fun and sport for the guests and their families. The event commemorates the Radisson association (formerly GRT Temple Bay) and the slew of sport activities that will follow.”
The Challenge received an overwhelming response with 65 teams registering (many IT giants included) and 45 playing, notably TCS, Infosys, E Serve, I Soft, Amazon.com, CSC, Dorma, Zobocorp and Cognizant, who made it to the quarter finals.
This set to rest all fears that organisers had about corporates sparing their employees during recession. The participants, it seems, had assured their bosses that productivity would not be affected.
The setting for the finals — TCS against Cognizant — was perfect, as the weather was a dream. Played under a clear sky, with the hissing of the waves in the background and the mangroves fringing the seafront swaying in the breeze, the finals was a keenly-fought contest.
Cries of Adidaa, Pudidaa, Naan Paathukaren rent the air periodically as the teams blocked, made over-arm /under-arm passes and dealt attack hits.
Serious about sport
Despite their sedentary jobs, the participants looked trim and were fighting fit — not in the least like hobby players. Quick reflexes, well thought-out moves and a never-give-up-till-the-last-ball attitude characterised the exciting final sets.
Having last played while in college and making a re-entry into the competitive circuit just a couple of months ago, Senthil of TCS said: “It’s really good that Radisson thought of a tournament such as this. It breaks the monotony of our work life, and comes as a welcome stress buster. A spin-off was the tremendous team bonding and intros to other corporates.”
Said Hariharan, a player: “It’s a good workout, as the corporate routine does not always give us time to sweat it out or a platform to showcase our talent.”
Cheer leaders from the two corporates exercised their vocal chords to the fullest and pushed the teams to give their best. As one particularly loud cheer leader Yuvaraj Subramaniam said: “Our team has been working very hard for the last few weeks. They have to clinch the trophy, and that’s why we are cheering from here.”
The result of the finals was a sweet revenge for TCS. Trounced by Cognizant in a corporate Olympiad, this time around the scores were settled.
And, in the true spirit of the game, a player from Cognizant said: “TCS was the expected opponent, and a side we had beaten in another tournament. We will make the necessary changes in strategy for future matches.”
It certainly wasn’t the case of the winner taking it all. Even the team that lost in the finals carried away very attractive prizes ranging from holiday packages, gift packs from Mirage, memberships at Fitness One, to gifts and vouchers from Cologne and Lifestyle respectively, and hi-end mobile phones.
Hopefully, the players will earn brownie points from the management as well. As Hariharan said: “We trust our companies will be proud of us.” Enthused by the way the event turned out, culminating in a glitzy award ceremony, Radisson Resort Temple Bay plans to “institutionalise the event” and roll out bigger and better editions of the tournament.
SUDHA UMASHANKER
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