The third edition of Techno Olympica Knights drew to a close with a closing ceremony at the Techno India Grounds in Salt Lake on December 4. The inter-school sports meet featured 1,012 students from 67 schools this year, with participation across a wide range of sports, including football, basketball, table tennis, volleyball, archery and swimming. Sri Aurobindo Institute of Education won the biggest prize, clinching first place in the overall ranking
Photographs by Soumyajit Dey
Sri Aurobindo Institute of Education bagged the winners’ trophy along with a cheque of Rs 50,000. Kalyani Public School, Barasat finished in second spot, receiving Rs 30,000, while Sakhawat Memorial Govt. Girls’ High School came in third, collecting Rs 20,000. G.D. Birla Centre for Education received a special prize and a cheque of Rs 5,000
The event was the brainchild of professor Manoshi Roychowdhury (extreme left), co-chairperson, Techno India Group. Roychowdhury believes that “sports are an essential element in a student’s life and that a student can carry their confidence from playing sports into their academic performances”. Roychowdhury shared the dais with chief guest and gymnast Dipa Karmakar, chess grandmaster Dibyendu Barua and guest of honour and sports shooter Joydeep Karmakar
‘I’d like to tell everyone that yes, education is important, but along with that, if you pick up a sport, there’s a lot of scope to gain success. I hope that some of the winners here today will represent the nation in the future,’ commented Dipa Karmakar, the first female gymnast from India to compete at the Olympic Games, where she finished fourth in the vault event in Rio de Janeiro in 2016
‘In sports, it’s not always about the results. The process is very important. As a coach, I’ve seen the resilience in children, and I can tell you that if you follow the process, the results will follow,’ observed Joydeep Karmakar, who finished fourth at the 2012 London Olympics in the 50m rifle prone event
Two students, Meghmala Mukherjee (for swimming) and Saptajit Padhi (for running), both from Sri Aurobindo Institute of Education, were recognised as the best performers at the event. They were given full sponsorships for their education, encouraging them to put in extra effort into their sport of choice with the hopes of making it to the world stage one day
