The difference between impossible and possible lies in determination. IIT Kanpur’s Inter IIT contingent could not have done any more justice to this statement, as history was created at IIT Guwahati during the Inter IIT sports meet 2013. A year of intense practice, indomitable spirit of trying and perseverance led us to lift the men’s general championship winner’s trophy by a lead of 3.5 points to IIT Madras, the runner up. The second runner up position in the men’s GC was shared by IIT Kharagpur and IIT Bombay. IIT Kanpur secured the 3rd position in the women’s general championship at 35 points, just 2 points short of IIT Guwahati. The women’s GC was won by IIT Roorkee. The victory streak was further extended by the Staff contingent of IIT Kanpur who won the Staff Inter IIT Tournament held after the students’ meet ended. 

The win was adorned by the overall championship in Athletics; Gold medals in Cricket and Volleyball (women); Silver medals in Badminton (men), Hockey and Squash; and Bronze medals in Lawn Tennis (men), Table Tennis (women) and Aquatics. The Athletics team was on an absolute rampage. They grabbed the Overall Athletics Championship in both the Boys & the Girls category by a huge margin, breaking 6 Inter IIT Meet Records in the Girls Category & 2 Inter IIT Meet Records in the Boys Category, a feat unprecedented. Veer Singh and Devi Mutyala added glory to the achievement by winning the Best Athlete Male and Female respectively. The team had also won the overall championship the previous year in the Boys Category but did not have any position in the Girls Category. Cricket Boys secured the Gold medal and bettered their previous year’s performance where they had exited in the quarter finals. The Volleyball Girls, who had won Silver last year, won the Gold medal this year, which was also the first year of Volleyball (women) being included in the points tally. Hockey Boys brought home a silver medal, improving upon their previous year’s performance where they were eliminated in the league stages. Badminton Boys too bettered their previous year’s performance where they had exited in the quarter finals to win silver this year, after a gruelling final. Squash Boys, Lawn Tennis Boys and Table Tennis Girls maintained their previous year’s performance, winning a silver, bronze and bronze medal respectively. Both the Swimming Boys and Swimming Girls won bronze medals at the Inter IIT Aquatics meet held in October 2013, maintaining the previous year’s performance. Water Polo Boys stood 4th, faring better than their previous year’s performance where they were eliminated in the group stages itself. Almost all our teams performed better than previous years, setting benchmarks that would inspire future team members. The teams that could not win this year shall bounce back to relive the shared dream of the entire contingent as champions keep playing till they get it right.

As the Inter IIT meet completes 50 years next year at IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur is all set to keep the precious trophy with itself for years to come. With more vigour, more determination and even more responsibility, the teams are moving towards converting what we call history to trend. From here on in, is the time to never give up, never give in, and as the upper hand is ours, we pledge to handle the win with dignity and consistency.