Sanjay Tamang wins Mr Sukhim title

ISABELLA GURUNG

GANGTOK: The 2nd Mr Sukhim and 1st Junior Mr Sukhim bodybuilding contest along with open men’s and women’s physique championship was organised by Bodybuilding & Powerlifting Association of Sikkim at the auditorium of Nar Bahadur Bhandari Degree College, at Tadong here on Saturday.

Sanjay Tamang from Namchi won the Mr Sukhim title. He was awarded with a cash prize of Rs. 50,000, along with a trophy, a certificate and goodies.  Norbu Tshering Bhutia from Gangtok was declared as the best poser and Pramod Ram from Singtam as most-improved bodybuilder.

Likewise, Jeemba Gyatso Barfungpa from Gangtok won the Mr Junior Sukhim title. Sidhant Chettri and Sumit Gupta, both from Gangtok, won silver and bronze medal respectively.

In the open men's physique, Shubam Kumar Prasad from Gangtok was declared as the champion fo champions.  Norbu Tshering Bhutia from Gangtok and Wasim Khan from Siliguri received silver and bronze medal respectively.

In the open women's category, Bhawika Pradhan from Gangtok was declared as the champion of champions. Simran Sharma from Namchi and Karma Lhamu Bhutia from Rumtek won silver and bronze medals respectively.

The winners were presented with gold medals, cash prizes of Rs. 25,000 each, trophies, certificates, supplements and goodies.

The chief guest for the event was Roads & Bridges minister Samdup Lepcha and the guest of honour was Sports secretary Kuber Bhandari.

The championship was themed 'Refuelling your energy for healthy tomorrow'.

This is for the first that a junior’s contest was organised by BPAS. “We realised that the athletes here start late compared to other parts of India and abroad, and consequently they struggle when competing outside the State. The junior level championship was held especially to groom them,” expressed BPAS general secretary Pema W.T. Bhutia.

The championship had participants from within and outside the State.