General Championship 2014-15: A Lookback

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The General Championships or GCs, as they are known to most students, represent a set of fiercely contested Inter-Hostel competitions in Cult, Sports and Tech wherein enthusiasts toil hard for a number of days to showcase their impressive talents in the quest for the coveted GC trophies. With the GCs coming to an end for this year, Insight takes a look at how each hostel has fared and the final overall results.

Cult GC

Dubbed as the most followed Inter-Hostel event, the Cultural General Championship typically sees a huge amount of participation from across all the hostels. This year was no different, with the hostels putting on some exemplary performances. This year’s Cult GC did not experience any major changes as such. Each of the 7 cult genres viz. Music, Dramatics, Dance, Speaking Arts, Literary Arts, Film & Media and Photography & Fine Arts, was allotted 100 points. While the performing arts genres consisted of a single main competition, the non-performing arts such as Speaking Arts, Literary Arts and Photography & Fine Arts comprised of 4, 5 and 4 GCs respectively.

The entire point structure for a performing arts GC is as follows (excluding any changes that might occur due to penalties, judging, etc.):

[table id=1 /]

The fight for the Cult GC trophy was largely dominated by Hostel 4 with 453.45 points, finishing 1st in Literary Arts, Film & Media (joint 1st with H7), Photography & FA and 2nd in Music. They were followed by Hostel 5 at 368.65 points, which ended up 1st in Speaking Arts, Dramatics and 2nd in Film & Media GC. Hostel 7 (1st in Film & Media, 2nd in FA, Dramatics), Hostel 2 (1st in Music, 2nd in Dance) and Hostel 3 (1st in Dance, 2nd in Lit) secured 3rd, 4th and 5th positions respectively in the overall tally.

Sports GC

Even as preparations for the 50th Inter-IIT Sports Meet were in full swing, the hostels kept us continuously entertained with a number of commendable performances in different sports. The Boys’ GCs comprised of a total of 20 competitions in Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Carrom, Chess, Cricket, Crossy (1 & 2), Football, Hockey, Kho Kho, Lawn Tennis, Squash, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tug of War, Volleyball, Water Polo and Weightlifting. The Girls’ GCs consisted of Aquatics, Athletics, Badminton, Carrom, Chess, Crossy (1 & 2), Kho Kho, Table Tennis, Throwball, Tug of War, Volleyball and a couple of Mock (not counted) GCs including Lawn Tennis, Squash and Triathlon.

The general point structure for a typical Sports GC is as follows (excluding any changes that might occur due to penalties, judging, etc.):

[table id=2 /]

In the Boys’ Sports GC, Hostel 7 overshadowed most of the GCs, winning Athletics, Chess, Volleyball, Crossy and Water Polo GCs, and ended up 1st in the final standings with 126.25 points. They were followed by Hostel 3 at 109.25 points, triumphing in Badminton, Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Table Tennis and Tug of War GCs. The Girls’ GCs saw a tough competition between Hostel 10 and Hostel 11, with both finishing as joint GC winners. Hostel 10 (112.5 points) won the Aquatics, Athletics, Badminton, Kho Kho and Volleyball GCs whereas Hostel 11 (112.5 points) won the Carrom, Chess, Table Tennis, Throwball and Tug of War GCs.

Tech GC

After several discussions with the Tech Councils of various hostels, the Tech GC structure for this year was changed. Two mid-prep GCs were scrapped and a new, innovative high-prep GC – the Smart Hostel GC – was introduced, in the hope to increase GC participation. This year saw a total of 6 GCs, comprising of 2 high-prep (Smart Hostel GC, Annual Robotics Challenge), 2 mid-prep (Hovercraft GC, PhysX GC) and 2 low-prep GCs (Logic GC, Electric Jhatka). Two of the scheduled WnCC GCs had to be cancelled due to some issues in the problem statement issued to the teams.

[table id=3 /]

This year’s Tech GC witnessed a number of closely battled GCs, with Hostel 7 emerging as the overall victors at 164 points. They were followed by Hostel 8 (149) and Hostel 4 (132) at second and third positions respectively. By the end of five GCs, Hostel 7 were second in the GC tally, trailing Hostel 8 by a margin of 10 points. However, the final GC, ARC, led to a dramatic ending with Hostel 7 not only covering the gap but also eventually leading Hostel 8 by 15 points.

First positions in the Sports and Tech GCs, along with a third position in the Cult GC helped Hostel 7 in clinching the Overall General Championship Trophy.