October 3, 2011
Coimbatore Campus
 

“India’s got talent,” said the English coach* of India’s first official soccer academy.
 

Perhaps he was referring to more than just soccer. Sporting talent was in full display at the Coimbatore campus last month during inter-campus tournaments in football, table tennis and swimming.
 

Students from all Amrita campuses participated over the three tournament days, September 16-18. Boys competed in all three sports while girls participated in table tennis and swimming.
 

The host campus won the title and championship for boys table tennis, with Bengaluru campus coming in second. For girls, it was Bengaluru that claimed the overall championship; the host campus came in second.
 

The all-around swimming trophies for both boys and girls were won by the Coimbatore campus. The runners up trophies for boys and girls were claimed by Mysore and Bengaluru respectively.
 

In football, Coimbatore campus stole the show with two of its teams placing first and second.
 

The previous month, during August 26-29, Amrita teams from the Coimbatore campus participated in Colosseum-2011 tournaments at Thanjavur’s Sastra University.
 

Nearly 20 colleges from Tamil Nadu competed.
 

Displaying their sportsmanship and skill, Amrita students won prizes in two team competitions and one individual event.
 

Amrita’s football team from Coimbatore placed third; the team’s coach, J. Selvanambi, explaining what it took to accomplish this feat.
 

“The students trained for more than two months; now they are seeing the results of their efforts,” he said.
 

Amrita’s table tennis team from Coimbatore placed fourth. First year B.Tech. student of Electronics and Computer Engineering N. Naresh Terumal, who participated, shared his enthusiasm for the sport.
 

“I’ve been practicing table tennis for the past four years. I am a day scholar now, so I don’t get enough time to practice at Amrita. Next year, I plan to stay in the hostel, then I’ll be able to play more often here and utilize the facilities we have here.”
 

The individual award was claimed by Gautam Verma for the best physique.
 

Having spent nearly a year and a half preparing for the competition, Gautam is now gearing up to compete in the All India Best Physique Championship in January 2012 in Haryana.
 

* Paul Masefield