Seylan Bank team wins first-ever Governor’s Challenge Trophy

The five-member strong Seylan Bank Team recently clinched the inaugural quiz competition for the Governor’s Challenge Trophy for Global Commerce Excellence.

Hailed as the “most prestigious and coveted trophy for mind sport in Sri Lanka,” this event was held on 13 December at the Ceylon Continental Hotel and attracted a record 50 participating teams both from Sri Lanka and overseas.

“We are indeed delighted to have emerged champions of this first ever Governor’s Challenge Trophy. A deep degree of team work, coupled with a great deal of detailed preparation went into our success. It brought out the best of us as a team comprehensively and fostered great bonding among every single team member. I wish to thank and acknowledge the untiring efforts of my team members Brian, Nimesh, Illanko and Subani,” Shanaka Perera, Assistant General Manager – Treasury/Senior Dealer and Quiz Team Leader said.

The quiz was conducted by the International Quizzing Association (Sri Lanka Branch) and covered a wide array of subjects ranging from world affairs to global transportation and logistics to global commerce, general knowledge and more.

Launched by the Shippers Academy (SA) Colombo, this particular initiative seeks to recognise the importance of global commerce and its players. This event was jointly organised by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the Export Development Board, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority and the International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka.

This quiz targets expanding the knowledge and interest of participants in the vast arena of global commerce. It also envisages popularising quizzing as a mind sport, on par with established mind sports such as chess and bridge.

During the quiz, contestants were tested on the basis of “how much they knew” as well as “how fast they could recall” and “what they knew”. Being a team contest it also successfully promoted teamwork and camaraderie among the vast variety of participants.

“We are extremely happy with the performance of our team, who have brought great honour to the Seylan Bank family. This is yet another display of our staff living the values of our bank in striving for excellence in whatever we do,” Kapila Ariyaratne, General Manager/Chief Executive Officer of Seylan Bank said.