Indian student wins Cambridge competition

An Indian student has won the top prize of a scholarship to study for an MBA in London after upstaging eight other contestants in the Best Young Speaker from Asia competition held at the University of Cambridge.

Sruthi Vijaychandran, who won the English-speaking competition held at Robinson College, was awarded the first prize of an MBA scholarship at the London School of Business and Finance, which was one of the event's sponsors.

Vijayachandran, who holds a Masters Degree in Public Relations, was one of nine young English language students from across Asia who was flown to the UK to take part in the final of the competition, a press release by the competition organisers today said.

In the final, Vijaychandran and other contestants had to give two presentations with a business theme in English and answer a series of questions put to them by an expert panel.

Simon Wright, a representative of the competition organisers University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL), said, "Sruthi has a real flair for communications and this really showed on the day. Her talent and ability really caught the eyes of the judges and I'd like to congratulate her for such an impressive performance."

Vijaychandran secured a place in the final by impressing judges with her English-speaking ability at the regional rounds held earlier this year.

She also recently passed Cambridge English: Business Vantage (BEC) -- a high-level business English qualification developed by Cambridge ESOL.

The second prize of a Diploma in Business scholarship at the University of Tasmania in Australia went to Vietnam's Trinh Hoang Nam.

The other contestants were Chermaine Hui (Hong Kong), Wei Feng (China), Kyeong Eun Rhee (Korea), Yu Han Hou (Taiwan), Bong Yang (Malaysia), Sherly (Indonesia) and Minami Yamamoto (Japan).