20 finalists get ready for the Indian finale of World Class;7th Edition

Mumbai, India

Diageo Reserve World Class, the industry’s biggest and most prestigious bartending competition, today announced the 20 finalists who will compete with each other at the India National Finals to be held in Mumbai. The winner further gets an opportunity to represent India at the Global Diageo Reserve World Class Competition.
Diageo Reserve World Class is recognized as a unique global platform that nurture the talent of local bartenders, enable them with the right knowledge and prepares them for some of the best bars in the world. In its seventh edition, the competition witnessed an outstanding participation of 275 entrants from 100 outlets. Compared to last year, the competition witnessed an increase of 22%, thus reaffirming the growing popularity of this marquee platform.
A team of judges comprising of Zbigniew Zapert (Reserve Brand Ambassador) and Nicholas Ord (Reserve Brand Ambassador), carefully handpicked the top 20 contenders who were scored on their knowledge artistry, innovation, balance, technique and visual aesthetic. 
World Class will see bartenders competing for the title of the India Bartender of the Year of Diageo Reserve World Class 2015 edition. The Judges will include of Zbigniew Zapert , Nicholas Ord, Will Thompson (Global Brand Ambassador, Don Julio), Alex Sanchez (Executive Chef, The Table) and Bhavesh Somaya (Head of Luxury, United Spirits- a Diageo Group company). The winner and India Champion will ultimately take on the world’s best bartenders at Diageo’s seventh annual Global Diageo World Class Competition to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, in September, 2015.

DIAGEO WORLD CLASS 2015 TOP 20:
Mayur Marne, Mumbai
Raghuvender Singh, Delhi
Akash Singh, Mumbai
Yogesh Kumar, Delhi
Garrimella Venkat, Mumbai
Rahul Chettri, Delhi
Tejas Pradip, Mumbai
Dilbar Rawat, Delhi
Bensan Varghese, Mumbai
Lovely Miglani, Delhi
Abhijit Kotkar, Pune
Gaurav Dhyani, Delhi
Bipeen Kekan, Pune
Vikram K.U, Delhi
Abhishek Shevade, Pune
Aman Dua, Gurgaon
Dushyant Tanwar, Kolkata
Arnold Hou, Gurgaon
Dibyendu Chaki, Kolkata
Alfonso Valdes, Bangalore

(Excerpt from a press release dated 22nd June 2015)