TAIT hosts CP Plus - TAIT IT CUP cricket tournament

The Trade Association for Information Technology (TAIT) started 2019 on a grand note with a mega 4-day cricket tournament CP Plus - TAIT IT CUP. The meticulously planned event witnessed enthusiastic participation from brands, vendors, IT retailers and traders as well as their office staff, as they come together in the spirit of the game and played as One Team.

The 4-day event was held during the pleasant evening slots, from 5:00 pm to 11:00 pm, on the sprawling expanses of the Mumbai Police Gymkhana ground, Marine Drive, making the experience a memorable one for all players. In an exciting grand finale held on 13th January, 2019, LG-Orno Gladiators beat the AOC Creative United team by 29 runs and won the coveted CP Plus TAIT IT Cup 2019, while AOC Creative United won the Runners-up Cup.

Sharing his views on the initiative and the success of the tournament, Sameer Parekh, President, TAIT, said, “Maintaining the TAIT tradition of getting better year on year, this year too with efforts from the entire Board and TAIT members, we could organize a much bigger cricket tournament, where better cricketing skills were on display and unmatched networking of IT ecosystem was seen. There was huge presence of members on all the four days. Feedbacks from all the team and members were quite encouraging. The most satisfying aspect of this entire tournament is to see more and more brands/vendors coming forward on their own to be a part of this extravaganza. The TAIT team would continue working tirelessly for the IT ecosystem and we welcome the feedback from all, as always.”

This year, the CP Plus IT TAIT Cup 2019 was a larger, reformed event, with 12 teams in three Groups, playing at night for four days to win the coveted title. As in 2018, this year too, the event saw active participation from OEMs, in addition to the TAIT members and vendors. Spearheaded by Sunil Thariani, Director of the Board, along with other Sports Committee members, Sameer Mehta, Magan Gangani and Nitin Phagwani, the mega tournament managed to rope in some of the biggest IT brands as sponsors. Further, the CP Plus TAIT IT Cup 2019 was streamed live on the mumbailive.com platform and also promoted on the leading radio channel, Fever 104, which were the broadcast partners for the event.

The 12 participating teams were formed with the key OEMs as owners and the distributors as co-owners, making them close partners and team members. The teams were divided in three groups and played 12 league matches, 3 quarter finals, and 1 semi-final. Acer vs CP Plus, D-Link vs AOC and LG vs Livetech were the three quarter finals. Acer vs AOC played the semi-final. AOC and LG won the respective matches and faced each other for the grand finale. The exciting final saw the LG Orno Gladiators win the toss and opted to bat. They made 50 runs for 3 in 4 overs. AOC Creative United made 21 runs for 7 in 4 overs, making LG Orno Gladiator, the winner of the CP Plus TAIT IT Cup by 29 runs! AOC Creative United won the runners-up cup.

Speaking about his experience at leading the LG Orno team to victory for the second time in a row, Mukesh Mehta, Captain, LG Orno Gladiator said, “We are thrilled to be winning this cup for the second time in a row. I would like to thank LG for trusting and supporting us for the second time, and sponsoring us. I would thank my entire team for the wonderful performance – from the bowling, batting to the entire coordination. Each one of them was fantastic! Lastly, I would like to thank TAIT for the opportunity and for creating this wonderful platform and organizing it so meticulously.”

Apart from the teams, individual players were also awarded for their outstanding performances on the field. These included:

* LG Best Batsman of the Tournament - Umesh Aparaj

* LG Best Bowler of the Tournament - Akash Akhade

* LG Man of the Series - Shailendra Verma

The award ceremony concluded the proceedings of the four-day mega tournament and was marked by enthusiastic cheers from members and their families, who were present throughout the grand finale. The TAIT Board of Directors and the sponsors gave away certificates and medals to all the participating teams, as a token of appreciation for making the event a mega success. The event also saw a special mention and awards given to children and spouses of TAIT members, who had achieved national recognition in the field of sports. The excitement and the thrill of the tournament concluded with a massive celebration of cheers, group selfies and scrumptious dinner. The organizers and the sponsor OEMs too were in high spirits, as the mega four-day extravaganza ended on a high note.