Mercury emerges victorious at ACCA Corporate Race 2015

From left, first row: Anushi Hakmanage, Shalindri Homer, Shanga Jayawickreme, Melissa Hoole, Rashmi Fernando and Zulhari Meedin. From left, second row: Hussain Rasheed, Dinushanth Ramanathan, Rishikesh Sivakumar, Senith Pathirane, Shiran Thilakarathne and Mohamed Nafiz

On 25 July, three teams from Mercury Institute – Mercury Alpha Squad, Mercury Thunder Twisters and Platinum Rush – set out on a journey ridden with challenges designed to test their technical knowledge, leadership and presentation skills, creativity and persuasiveness, whilst battling five other competitor teams.

Each team was required to travel to Goodhope Asia, The Kingsbury, Ernst & Young, Ceylon Tobacco Company and Copal Amba in randomised order and undertake various tasks set by these companies. The participants were first required to correctly guess the company using the clues provided, and were subsequently required to find their own means of transport to get there. 

All teams were provided with start-up capital of Rs. 500 and were given the opportunity to earn more money through the mini tasks set by the organising committee. As they were required to fund their own transport to visit these companies, the participants were compelled to use their creativity and think outside the box. It was truly a race against time as the participants had to battle against strict timelines to reach these companies amidst heavy Saturday traffic and also manage their time in performing the tasks.

Amidst various disasters, like team members injuring themselves, fighting gastritis and narrowly avoiding getting lost, not one, but two of Mercury’s teams emerged victorious. Mercury Alpha Squad and Mercury Thunder Twisters conquered the scoreboard, sending competitor teams into oblivion. 

For Mercury Alpha Squad, captained by Shalindri Homer who was ranked World No.3and Sri Lanka No.1 for Performance Management (F5), obtained numerous CAT prizes and is currently a Lecturer at Mercury; and accompanied by Anushi Hakmanage – TV Presenter and Manager of an event management company; Dinushanth Ramanathan, Sri Lankan Prizewinner for Corporate and Business Law (F4), Performance Management (F5), Audit and Assurance (F8), Governance, Risk and Ethics (P1) and Business Analysis (P3); and Hussain Rasheed – President of the Mercury Maldivian Society, it was a simple matter of working together as a team. Speaking of their victory, Shalindri says: “The key to our victory was pure teamwork. We were a multi-culturally diverse team and we played to our strengths. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and are overjoyed that we could bring glory to our alma mater, Mercury.”

Mercury Thunder Twisters, captained by Senith Pathirane, ACCA Student and a Second Year Undergraduate from the University of London, accompanied by Rishikesh Sivakumar, Sri Lankan Prizewinner for Corporate and Business Law (F4), Financial Reporting (F7)and Advanced Performance Management (P5), and Melissa Hoole and Shanga Jayawickreme, both star students of Mercury, strategically planned their moves towards victory.

Senith says: “This was just one example of how Mercury helps mould us into well-rounded professionals. We got the highest level of support and guidance from everyone at Mercury, from lecturers to fellow students. Mercury not only focuses on making sure we pass our exams with high marks, but also ensures we develop key soft skills. And that’s what made Mercury monopolise the scoreboard!” 

Mercury’s third team, Platinum Rush comprised Zulhari Meedin as Captain, Shiran Thilakarathne, Rashmi Fernando and Mohamed Nafiz, Vice President of the Mercury Maldivian Society, with Anudhini Amarasekara as reserve. Although unable to beat her fellow companion teams, Zulhari says: “We learnt a lot, had fun, made new friends and above all, we are proud to have been chosen to represent Mercury. Mercury became the Champions and the 1st Runners’ Up, so we all won in the end.”

Although Mercury is no stranger to Corporate Race victories, with the inaugural race also being won with a margin unmatched by competitors, it was still a heart-stopping moment of unadulterated joy for the Mercury teams and supporters when the results were announced at the awards ceremony, and victory celebrations continued all through the night, for the winners well and truly deserved their Gold and Silver medals. This year’s Corporate Race was a well-executed effort by the ACCA Students’ Council of 2015, and an achievement that must be commended.