Inter-corporate soccer from July 28

B D Narayankar

PUNE: After a year round hectic work for IT professionals, it’s de-stressing time for them. They will be out in couple of days running hard on the ground for possession or kicking the ball into the nets for victory. After an exciting Inter-Corporate Football Mania 2006, Red Carpet Eventz will be conducting this year’s Inter-Corporate Football Mania edition from July 28 to July 29 and August 4 to August 5.Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, Goel Ganga Developments’ Director Amol Goel said the championship would kick off with Convergys taking on IBM in the inaugural match to be played at SSPMS Grounds on July 28 at 10 am.As many as 16 corporate teams would be vying for the top honours and the tournament would be conducted on knockout basis, he said.This is second time that Goel Ganga Developments was conducting the event and Tech Mahindra were the first team to lift the title, defeating Geometric last year, Goel said.This year too, Tech Mahindra and Geometric are the favorite teams to win the title. However, there were other emerging teams like AXA, WNS and Nihilent Technologies, which had the potential to cause upset in the tournament, Goel said.While Goel Ganga Developments and Coca Cola will be the presenting and associate sponsors, Kingfisher Airlines and Airtel will be the co-sponsors. Piramyds, Malaka Spice, San Marzano, Ten Downing Street, Solaris, Digilife and Hotel Le Royce will sponsor prizes. Wilson Andrews and Mathurawala from Seven-a-side Football Association are supporting the event.The participating teams are: Amdocs, AXA, Tech Mahindras, WNS, WNS-Ntrance, TJC, TCS, Ventura, I-Flex Solutions, IBM, Oceans Connect, Geometric, Nihilent Technologies, Wipro, Syntel and Convergys.