Day 3 of Spree saw the deciding matches of most events and the thrill and excitement could be sensed among the crowd, especially for the events where the home teams had secured their places in the finals.
An obstacle marathon called Mana Spree was organised early morning in association with Mana-Maali, an initiative which promotes mental health on campus. The hurdles in the race symbolised getting over the hurdles and pressures people face in day-to-day life.
Before the girls’ basketball finals started there were chants of ‘BITS Goa jeetega’. The lineups looked evenly matched as Venkateswara took control of the ball and missed their first shot. BITS were the better team but with less than a minute to play, Venkateshwara made their shots count as they extended the lead to a comfortable 11 points.
It was a hard fought victory for the girls from Venkateshwara college. The girls from BITS played their hearts out but they have to be content with a runners-up medal this year. In the boys’ basketball finals IMED won against BITS Hyderabad.
Badminton and tennis were huge draws on day 3
The boys’ semi-final badminton match between JNTU and JMI was an interesting one with all three sets in the singles being played. JMI won the final singles. It went on to win the first doubles as well. The second doubles was won by JNTU. JMI joined MIT Manipal in the finals. JMI pulled off a 3-0 victory against MIT Manipal in the finals. There was not much excitement in the girls’ badminton finals. It was a single sided match where MIT Manipal defeated COEP 2-0.
Coming to boys’ table tennis, SKN defeated MIT Manipal 3-1 and JNTU won 3-0 against IIT-B in the semifinals. In the finals, SKN beat JNTU by 3-1.
In the much-awaited tennis finals between both the home teams, BITS A won 2-1 against BITS B. Aditya defeated Vatsal in the first singles while Rachith got a splendid victory against Vibhu in the second singles. In the deciding doubles which was a treat for the spectators, the team of Neil and Rachith won against Aditya and Vibhu.
In an exciting cricket finals between SVC and Xaviers, SVC grabbed the trophy, defeating Xaviers by win 5 wickets. The finals of the first edition of Squash at BITS Goa saw both teams from Manipal competing against each other. After an intense competition, MIT A won 2-0 against MIT B.
In the football semi-finals between BITS FC and Venkateshwara college, perhaps the most looked forward to event of the day, both teams were 0-0 at the end of full time. BITS FC lost out 2-3 on penalties, much to the disappointment of the home crowd. The finals were Venkateshwara against Motilal College, and Venkateshwara emerged as winners in a similar manner, winning in the penalty shootout.
For the non-sports enthusiasts, Department of Creative Works organised Scavenger Hunt, basically a Beg, Borrow or Steal event where participants had to acquire the items on the list by whatever means possible.
Day 3 ended on a high note with the soul-southing performance of renowned Bollywood playback and folk singer, Angaraag Mahanta, popularly known as Papon. With his captivating baritone, he has won laurels and hearts across the nation and BITS Goa knows it. His band, Papon and the East India Company mesmerised the audience with their renditions of popular songs.
