MUMBAI: The ESPN School Quiz launched into its third year today with a bang! The first regional round of the School Quiz 2003 saw over 5000 children from over 135 schools in and round Mumbai congregate at the Shanmukhananda Hall in Matunga at a competition hosted by popular ESPN STAR Sports presenter Harsha Bhogle.
Rajhans Vidyalaya (Andheri West) School team comprising Aditya Sharma and Bhavik Desai emerged the winners of the first regional round of ESPN School Quiz 2003 by beating the five other schools teams which had entered the final round. Milo is the presenting sponsor of ESPN School Quiz 2003.
Harsha Bhogale poses with winning team from Rajhans Vidyalaya. The trophy was presented by former India cricketer Ajit Wadekar More than 2000 schools are expected to participate in the ESPN School Quiz 2003 in 28 centers across India. After the qualifying rounds, 108 schools - 27 top teams from each of the four zones - will be selected to participate in the on-air ESPN School Quiz 2003.
Total prize money of Rs 1.5 million is at stake at ESPN School Quiz 2003. This year, the national winners could win up to a whopping Rs 700,000, which will be handed over to the school authorities towards the development of sports facilities in the school.
In addition, the individual team members of the winning team collect the ultimate prize as they, along with their school teacher, will go an all expenses paid trip to a major international sporting event of their choice featured on ESPN STAR Sports.
At the regional round held today, the winning team members of Rajhans Vidyalaya received gift hampers from ESPN and the sponsors. While the Best Cheering Team award went to the vociferous children of Lady Ratanbai And Sir Mathuradas Visanji Academy (Andheri East), the Best Banner award was collected by the creative students from Canossa High School (Mahim).
The next on-ground event will be held in Hyderabad on 24 September, 2002. The following is the schedule of upcoming ESPN School Quiz 2003 events to be held in various metros:
Hyderabad, Hari Hara Kala Bhavan 24 September
Kolkata, Science City Hall 4 October
Chennai, Kamaraj Memorial Hall 22 October
Bangalore, Dr Ambedkar Bhavan 30 October
New Delhi, Siri Fort Auditorium 12 November
In addition, written qualifying tests will be held in the following 22 cities - Shimla, Dehradun, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Patna, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Guwahati, Cuttak, Nagpur, Pune, Cochin, Siliguri, Jamshedpur, Ooty, Trivandrum, Vizag, Ranchi, Coimbatore, Panaji and Durgapur.
