GAIL CMD inaugurates PSPB Carrom Tournament

New Delhi, December 11, 2006. The Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) Carrom Tournament started here today with players from 10 companies from the petroleum sector participating in the tournament. The Tournament was inaugurated in the morning by Shri M.R.Hingnikar, CMD and Director (HR) of GAIL (India) Limited.The tournament is hosted by GAIL and is being conducted by the Carrom Federation of India. Shri V K Bawa, Secretary, PSPB; Shri S K Sharma, Secretary General, International Chess Federation and senior GAIL officials were also present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Hingnikar emphasized that though in a competition, there has to be only one winner, yet all participants who are taking part are winners in their own right. He also urged all those participating to play with a healthy sportsman spirit. After declaring the tournament open, Shri Hingnikar also enthusiastically took part in an exhibition match with the past winners of the competition.

A total of 85 players including 60 men and 25 women from ONGC, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bongaigaon Refineries & Petrochemicals Limited (BRPL), Engineers India Limited (EIL), GAIL, IBP, IPCL and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) are participating in this tournament. Prominent players participating in the Tournament include Yogesh Pardesi of IOCL who won the recently played World Cup Championship in November 2006, Sandeep Deorukhar and P Thangamalar of ONGC and K Ramesh Babu of IOC.

On the first day of the Tournament, team matches were played in which GAIL defeated EIL 3-0, ONGC defeated BRPL 3-0, BPCL – B defeated MRPL 3-0 and IBP defeated IPCL 2-1.

Shri M R Hingnikar, Director (HR) and CMD, GAIL inaugurating the 27th PSPB Carrom Tournament