(1888PressRelease)
May 21, 2009 - Hyderabad, May 20, 2009: Few people know that Sunil Joshi used to travel 40miles for cricket practice before coming back for school every single morning, or the immense hardship Tinu Yohannan had to go through to get accepted in the Indian test team. It was the spirit of winning against adversities and taking on challenges that pushed them to this extent leading them to finally win a place in the coveted Indian Cricket team. The Royal Challenge –Game 4 Challenge Face-off is an event which celebrates this indomitable spirit. Aimed at empowering the common man to take his love for cricket on the ground and use his skills to rise up to the challenge by established cricketers, the event got to a flying start in Bangalore on Friday with 150 contestants vying for the top spot. The prize- a ticket to fly all the way to London to watch the finals of the T20 World Cup!
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Laxminarasimhan K, COO-AP, United Spirits Limited, said, “The Royal Challenge- Game4 Challenge is centered on the spirit of taking up challenges and winning them. These are real winners who have the courage to undertake real challenges and win the game of life. T20 is the flavour of the season, and we wanted to encourage people who overcame this cricketing challenge to fly all the way to London and enjoy the T20 World Cup.”
Royal Challenge had roped in Indian test cricketers like Sunil Joshi, J. Arun Kumar and Tinu Yohannan to be the judges for this event who competed in equal capacity with the top 9 contestants to find the ultimate winner.
The concept kicked off in the beginning of April and invited people to participate in this challenge over the subsequent 45 days; the brand conducted a careful screening procedure from which 150 people were selected in Bangalore to participate in this in an all day knockout competition where they challenged each other on the field with respect to cricketing skills like batting, bowling and fielding. To make it more holistic and for all those armchair commentators among the public, trying to make their commentary dreams come true, the contest even had a round on commentary skills of participants. So all cricket commentators watch out!
An ecstatic Vinay Kumar on winning the Bangalore leg of this challenge, said, “I am just one among the millions of Indians who loves cricket and follow the sport passionately, but The Royal Challenge –Game 4 Challenge Face Off gave me a chance to pit my skills in the field and get a chance to rub shoulders with celebrated cricketers like Sunil’s, Arun and Tinu.”
Details of the Face Off -
150 contestants were part of the final round in each city and were divided in three equal groups. Each group fielded, bowled and bat in the net. 18 winners were selected to go to the second round. In the second round the 18 contestants teamed up with each other to form 9 teams and the challenge lay in trying to run out their partner. This round concluded with 9 winners who in turn teamed up with the three cricketers to form a group of 4 including the cricketer. Each of the 9 winners had to undergo the Commentary Challenge where they were shown a video clipping and asked to do a commentary as well as answer in the Quiz round.
The third round was the toughest as it was a physical round in which each one of the three persons in group had to face two balls each of the cricketer assigned to their group & vice versa viz. bowl two balls to the cricketer assigned to their group. The Royal Challenge- Game 4 Challenge Face off will held in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi & Chandigarh.
About Royal Challenge –
Royal Challenge is a leading premium brand from the United Spirits portfolio. Launched in the 1980s, RC soon became the trailblazer in its segment and captured the hearts of millions of consumers. Today RC is a millionaire brand with an aggressive target of selling 10 million cases by 2019. The brand echoes the values of winning, rising upto overcome all challenges in life. The brand was recently launched in a stunning new pack designed by renowned design agency –Claessens- based in London.
RC is associated with 4 IPL teams this season and Force India formula 1 team. The brand recorded robust double digit volume growth last year.
About United Spirits Limited (USL):
United Spirits Limited (USL) is the INR 5500 crore spirits arm of the UB Group. USL was earlier McDowell and Company Limited and before that McDowell Spirits Limited. USL is headquartered in Bangalore with a global footprint and has 7500 employees across various locations. USL has a portfolio of more than 140 brands, of which 19 are millionaire brands* and has manufacturing and bottling units in 74 locations across the country.
USL represents the merged entities of erstwhile McDowell & Co. Limited, Phipson Distillery Limited, United Spirits Limited, Herbertsons Limited, Triumph Distillers and Vintners Private Limited, Baramati Grape Industries Limited, United Distillers India Limited, McDowell International Brands Limited and Shaw Wallace Distilleries Limited. The erstwhile McDowell & Co. Limited was first established as a proprietary business in 1826. For detailed information, please visit www.unitedspirits.in
Media Contacts
Shefali Kotnala
United Spirits Limited
m: +91-98863-78407
email: shefalikotnala ( @ ) ubmail dot com
Rucha Sane
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
M:+91-97030-46888
Email: ruche.sane ( @ ) ogilvy dot com
###
