Media Release
Dubai, Feb 3: It was a glittering and magnificent show with hundreds of bodybuilders from all over the world participating in the first ever "Mr International Indian 2015-16 Championship" organised by Team Dubai Indians, presented by Rhythm Events under the aegis of Emirates Bodybuilding Federation & General Authority of Youth & Sports Affairs, UAE on January 30 at Al Nasr Leisureland Ice Rink, wherein a mighty high LED lit stage was put up with all settings of international standards. The show was witnessed by both Emiratis and Asians sports enthusiasts throughout the day till late evening.
The title was won by Sunit Jadav and the occasion was graced by internationally renowned 'The Great Khali'.
The morning session started at around 11 am as Shodhan Prasad, who is part of the organising team, welcomed the sportive audience and introduced Team members Imran Khan, Afroz Assadi, Eusub Ansar, Asif Baikady, Sirajuddin, Abdul Mukhtar, Abdul Rahman and Chiranjith Hegde who were on the stage. The inauguration commenced with a prayer and opening up the qualifying rounds for all the participants who were finalized the previous day with trunk numbers categorized into qualified weight categories.
International judges
The whole competition was professionally judged by 12 member International judges under the leadership of Brig Gen Hamid Al Ansari of UAE Police who was the head of the jury along with Khaled Al Shamsi, Abdul Majid Yezbag, Adil Al Fosani, Waleed Abdul Karim, Jasim Ashkanani, Chassib Al Khaisi, Mohammed Khair Alzol, Farzad Sanini (former Bodybuilding Champion of Iran), Suleiman Azadi who are all international judges of UAE and Khasim Yazbag who is the World Champion in bodybuilding and also known as the middle judge. Hassan Lashein who is a former Arab Champion, Egypt Champion, Mediterranean Champion, international refree and refree of this event co-ordinated throughout with Abdul Majid Yezbag who compiled the marks online on the spot in accordance with international standards and declared the results instantly.
Qualifying rounds
As expected, there were more than 400 registered contestants out of which many were dropped because of either absence of official documents and/or were not able to participate as per the required criteria of the competition. Finally, over 140 contestants were listed, out of which around 87 qualified after the weighing round which took place in Banquet Hall of Zammoradah in Karama on January 29 in the presence of the international judges' committee who were the final decision makers.
The confirmed 87 contestants in the weight groups 60 kg, 70 kg, 80 kg, 90 kg, 100 kg and above 100 kg categories participated one by one flexing their muscles to the widest possible in different postures which reflected on the LED boards, impressing all the judges who ably judged the whole session, ticking appropriate marks as per international judging standards. Wherever the judges wanted the contestants to pose again, they did it with all politeness and sincerity.
To make this competition a free and fair event, non-Indian judges were appointed, who really put their whole effort wisely and truly to identify 6 finalists from each category except for the 100-plus kg, which had 3 finalists, totaling 33 finalists. This process took around four hours.
Final rounds
After a break of 2 hours the final round of this international competition started at around 5 pm with chief guest Abdul Karim Mohd Saed (2nd vice-president EBBF), Brig Gen Hamid Al Ansari and the guest of honour 'The Great Khali', the living giant of WWE along with his manager Sarabjith Kaur (fondly known as BulBul Singh in the wrestling rings) witnessing the finals.
RJ Harsha took over the afternoon session which started with the singing of national anthems of both UAE and India by the students of GEMS Indian School, Angeline Abraham, Jehoash Jonah, Kaelin Sanfrancis, Mathew Joshua, Rithy Rachel Soj, Riya Mary Bino, Shannon Fernandes, Sivani Suresh, Subulakshmi Somasundaram, Sundareswaran Sharma and Vishnu Suresh Kumar. Team Dubai Indians and members of Emirates Bodybuilding Federation were also on the stage.
Bouquets were presented to all the guests on stage and Harsha handed over the stage once again to Hassan Lashein, the international refree to continue with the final rounds with 33 finalists.
The final rounds went on interesting with weight categories set of six presenting as group as well as individual presentations with background music which made the event more glittering with each contestant flexing his muscles to the musical tunes. There was huge applause as well as cheers from their supporters and fans from the audience every now and then.
Indian and Arabic cultures
To add spice and flavour there were various dances beautifully presented by Body & Soul Group with Natasha, Liubov, Abigail, Chris, Imran, Hicham, Maricar, Subodh, Fatma, Rose Vila, Brayan, Mary and El Hassan who showcased Arabic Dance, Step Dance, Aerobic Indian Dance and Sumba Dance while another group from 'Classical Rhythms' presented Indian Classical Fusion Dance comprising of Bharthanatyam, Kathak, Kuchupudi, Odissi and Mohiniattam classically performed by Ishani, Aditi, Bhavna, Tanvi, Yuktha, Smriti and Prerana. All these dances were scheduled in between different weight group competitions and were smoothly conducted.
All the contestants who participated but lost in this competition were invited on to the stage and presented with mementos individually and certificates of participation and the honours were done by the Team Dubai Indians on stage.
Top six
From the 33 finalists the judges chose final six winners in each category. Except for the top six all others were presented with cup, certificates of participation while the first runner-up was additionally honoured with Rs 50,000 cheque and the second runner-up was presented with Rs 25,000 cheque.
Title and winners
The final six were again invited on to the stage for the final rounds of title. The following were finally judged and honoured accordingly:
1st place title holder "Champion of the Champions" Mr. International Indian 2015-16 - Sunit Jadav who along with the title received Rs 1 million prize money, cup, medal, certificate and special gift hamper from Thumbay Group.
2nd place was grabbed by Vipin Peter who along with the title received Rs 5 lac, cup, medal, certificate and special gift hamper from Thumbay Group.
3rd place was clinched by Ram Niwas Chand who along with the title received Rs 2.5 lac, cup, medal, certificate and special gift hamper from Thumbay Group.
4th place was won by Anil Ghochikkar who along with the title received Rs 1 lac, cup, medal and certificate of appreciation.
5th place was Sumeet Balbir Singh who along with the title received Rs 1 lac, cup, medal and certificate of appreciation.
6th place was Suraj Reshm Kalathinkal who along with the title received Rs 1 lac, cup, medal and certificate of appreciation.
All the winners were honoured by 'The Great Khali', Abdul Karim Mohammed Saed, Walid Abdul Karim, Khalid Bilooshi, Sarabjit Kaur, Farzad Samimi and members of Team Dubai Indian while the top six were honoured by the sponsors of the event present during the event. Imran Khan, the leader of the Team proposed the vote of thanks.
RJ Harsha, Shodhan Prasad and Hassan Lashein smoothly conducted the whole programme flawlessly. Ladies team comprising of Ashwini and Sayeeda along with Adarsh, Kausar and Sameer Bolar volunteered throughout dedicatedly. The entire process of the Championship event was professionally conducted as per international standards, though this was the maiden attempt by Team Dubai Indians.