Held last month, the two-day inter-club sports carnival hosted by Calcutta International Club was a gala affair participated by almost all the elite clubs of the city. Participants competed in an atmosphere of true sporting spirit and lively camaraderie in several categories. Competitions were held in individual and team disciplines and included events like chess, snooker, table tennis, darts and quiz, besides tennis, cricket and football. Former tennis champion and coach Enrico Piperno was the chief guest. “It was just lovely to see Calcutta International Club taking the lead in bringing our lives back to normal after the pandemic, and very encouraging to see the large number of participants. My advice to our budding sports talents is that there is no shortcut to success. Only hard work and dedication with lots of sacrifice can produce a good sportsperson,” he said, while giving away the prizes. Snapshots of winning teams at the prize-distribution ceremony that brought down curtains on the event.
Dakshin Kalikata Sansad were the winners of the tennis tournament. “The CIC sports carnival celebrated sports and social bonding in a great way with amazing hospitality. Looking forward to more such carnivals by CIC,” Prakash Gurnani, sports co-ordinator of Dakshin Kalikata Sansad, said. Tollygunge Club was the runners-up.
Enrico Piperno handed over the trophy to The Lake Club, winners of the bridge competition. “Our club was delighted to be a part of the CIC Carnival 2022. We fared well in most of the events we took part in. We were the champion in bridge and runners-up in the cricket tournament. Our darts, table tennis and rifle-shooting teams showed a lot of promise too,” said Subir Banerjee, sports convenor of The Lake Club.
Saroj Agarwal of Calcutta International Club was adjudged Man of the Tournament in cricket and awarded the much-coveted trophy by Enrico Piperno.
Calcutta Punjab Club was the snooker champ of the carnival. “Calcutta Punjab Club has been performing well in all the inter-club tournaments and this one was special as we took home the snooker trophy,” Ashu Vohra, joint secretary of Calcutta Punjab Club, said. Tollygunge Club was the runners-up.
The Indian Life Saving Society table tennis team with their winner’s trophy and prizes. “ILSS was privileged to have participated in the CIC sports carnival. We did well to have won the table-tennis, air-rifle shooting and antakshari events,” said Arijit Kumar, MIC-Sports of Indian Life Saving Society. Dalhousie Institute was the runners-up in this category.
Darts champions Tollygunge Club posed with their winners trophy and individual prizes. “It’s the first darts tournament win for Tollygunge Club, so it’s quite momentous for our young team. We played as a team all through the tournament and hope to keep learning and playing better with time. Looking forward to defending our title next year,” said Anand Neotia, darts captain of Tollygunge Club.
Quiz champions Calcutta International Club get their winners’ trophy from Piperno. “Winning the quiz title was like an unexpected icing on the cake for us. Our bridge and darts teams also did us proud by reaching the finals before going down fighting,” the host club’s MIC, sports development, Arnab Raha said.
Air-rifle shooting team of Indian Life Saving Society with their winners’ trophy.
The Calcutta Club football team was awarded the winners trophy by Piperno. “The carnival organised by International Club was a welcome break from restrictions imposed due to Covid. It provided a platform to meet old faces and make new friends across different clubs and rejuvenate our bonding and camaraderie. Calcutta Club is proud to have won the first prize in football and the second prize in quiz at the carnival,” sports co-ordinator of Calcutta Club Shubhadeep Chowdhury said. Outram Club was the runners-up.
Host team Calcutta International Club did their club proud by emerging winners in the cricket tournament. They were handed the winners trophy and individual prizes by Piperno. “The highlight for our club at this carnival was winning the cricket championship from the jaws of defeat by scoring 19 runs of the last four balls in the final,” said Arnab Raha, MIC — sports development of the club. The Lake Club was the runners-up team.
Pictures: B. Halder