AIT captured 11 of 13 events at the inter-collegiate competition with
Thailand’s National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), but
both institutes were equal winners, officials reminded athletes and
spectators.
Competing under a strong sunshine and in an air of inter-varsity
camaraderie, 65 AIT students and 40 NIDA students competed in tug of
war, basketball, football, chairball, table tennis, petanque, snooker,
and badminton.
“NIDA and AIT have enjoyed a special relationship for many years. It’s
the time when we exchange each other’s cultures. You are student
ambassadors of NIDA, and you can tell everyone what AIT really means.
It’s beyond studies. It’s about the community feeling that we have here
where we all live in harmony of peace and nature,” Prof. Joydeep Dutta,
AIT Vice President for Academic Affairs, told the crowd during his
opening remarks.
Benefitting from a larger all-around team, many from AIT switched
sides for matches of tug of war and chairball, displaying a spirit of
strong harmony between the two institutes. Prof. Dutta and Mrs. Anne
Lopez-Fontanilla, Head of Student Office, even joined the NIDA female
team for a titanic match of tug of war.
“Our AIT players may have had a physical advantage, but we treated the
event as a fun activity rather than the real competition,” said event
organizer Mr. Worawaj Onnom, President of AIT Student Union.
Worawaj added that the AIT-NIDA Traditional Sports Day, which began in
1978, has been an annual joint activity between what were previously
the only postgraduate universities in Thailand.
At this year’s event, most of the players from AIT were already
crowned champions at the recently held annual AIT intramural sports
competition. One example was the male team for the tug of war.
Tug of war player from NIDA, Ms. Nipapon Yowang, a master’s student in
language and communication, said she had a lot of fun at this sports
event. “I was very impressed with AIT’s all-around warm welcome.”
AIT Chairballer, Ms. Niluka Surangi Bandara, from structural
engineering agreed: “The event was very fun. It’s not like a
competition at all.”
The event ended with a farewell dinner before the students from AIT
and NIDA said goodbye. All competitors promised to resume the friendly
battle again next year at NIDA.
Mr. Tohdsapourn Sonthirawd, President of the Student Union of NIDA, a
master’s student in public administration, who was impressed with AIT’s
athletes and in particular the team of Portuguese students who
represented AIT in the men’s tug of war, said: “NIDA students want to
experience the atmosphere and lifestyle of students at other
universities. Even though we might have lost some games, we don’t mind.
We had a lot of fun and we look forward to welcoming AIT students to
NIDA next year. Next year NIDA will prepare a much stronger team to
fight against AIT for sure.”
NIDA won in Badminton (women’s doubles) and Football (men’s), while
the remaining events including Table Tennis (men’s and women’s
doubles), Petanque (men’s and women’s doubles), Badminton (men’s
doubles), Badminton (mixed doubles), Snooker (men’s singles), Tug of
War (men’s and women’s), Chairball (women’s), and Basketball (men’s)
were won by AIT.
