Monday, 13 February, 2012

The UOWD contingent of 23 undergraduate students, enjoyed wins at the recent Sympulse international sporting and cultural festival in Pune, India. The event was organised by Symbiosis International University in Pune from January 29 - February 4.The University of Wollongong in Dubai throwball team were victorious in the finals of the Sprint competition while Nitesh Lakhani won the coveted ‘War of the DJ's’ and Sundeep Singh claimed runners up trophy in the photography competition.UOWD Throwball team had a comfortable victory, winning the first 3 rounds of competition in 2 sets each game, going into the finals as favourites. The girls played an impressive game against SIMC Pune (UG) winning 13-15, 17-15, 15-3.Besides taking part in sports: throwball (women), street football(men), basketball(women), volleyball (men), UOWD also made their presence felt in photography, Fifa PS3 and other competitions.Runners up Sundeep Singh was given 5 subjects and 2 hours to create his photos while Nitesh Lakhani played some incredible sets and impressed the audience and judges to win the overall competition from a group of 15 DJ's in the ‘War of the DJs’."The students enjoyed some high class sports and cultural events over the 5 days, providing them a new bench mark for where the teams want to reach. The students were thrilled to be a part of this event and to experience the culture and excitement of an international meet,” said Erin Collins, Assistant Manager, Student Services, UOWD. “The event gave us an opportunity to show our sporting abilities and other skills on an international stage."Meeta Bhinge captain of the UOWD throwball team was ecstatic with the win, she said, 'last year we lost narrowly in the semi-finals, but we proved that we are the best this year. It was a great team effort.’Sympulse 2012 is a major inter-university festival, with participants coming from different universities. The event has four main components: The Symbiosis International Model United Nations Conference (SIMUNC), Symulate - a management event that tests skills of budding managers, Anany - a cultural event and Sprint -the sports component.