Standard Chartered wins Microsoft Corporate Challenge

Kochi, Sep 5 (UNI) In a nail biting finish, Standard Chartered Bank emerged winners at the Microsoft Corporate Challenge 2006, a test of endurance, physical fitness and effective strategy.

An official release today said, Bennet Coleman and Company finished second while J M Morgan Stanley took the third place, in a closely fought battle among the 35 teams that participated in the two-day event organised by Sports Media Ltd.

The Challenge tested us from all possible angles, mentally, physically and emotionally. The key to winning was to plan, strategize and execute as a team, said Mr Tarun Dhingra Associate and team captain of Standard Chartered.

The Challenge tested each team in five stages that involved running, cycling, light engineering, mental activities like cracking codes and trekking through the wild and rowing across the backwaters, which demanded teams to push themselves to the extreme and stick together till the end.

Although many of the participants were meeting each other for the first time, it was amazing to see how they came together as a team in a very difficult competition that pushed each member to the extreme, said Mr Prem Bhatia, Managing Director of Sports Media Limited.

The Challenge was reduced to two days from the previous schedule of three, he noted.

Some of the other big names which locked horns in the Challenge were ICICI, Barclays Bank, the Indian Navy, Indiatimes, Pepsi Foods, RMZ, Infosys, Microsoft, GE Money, Thomson International, Unilever, Ashok Leyland, Motorola, JWT, Hutch, Reliance Capital, Worldspace, Grey Worldwide and McDowells.

The Challenge, which ended on September 2, was held at the Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) campus and the adjoining backwaters here, the release added.

The first edition of the Challenge, held in Goa last year was won by the ICICI Bank with J M Morgan Stanley coming second.

UNI MA/KKS GKT 1659