Mysore/Mysuru: More than 500 yoga enthusiasts took part in the State-Level Open Yoga Competition-2024 organised by Yoga Sports Foundation as a part of 10th International Day of Yoga celebrations and 60th birthday celebrations of Yoga Guru Dr. Ganesh Kumar at University of Mysore (UoM) Yoga Bhavan here on Sunday.

Yoga enthusiasts from Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Gadag, Ballari, Raichur, Hubballi, Davanagere among other districts took part in the competition held for both men and women in various categories including Under-8 years, 8-10 years, 11-14 years, 15-20 years, 21-30 years, 31-40 years, 41-50 years and Above 50 years.

The organisers gave away cash prizes of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 700 and Rs. 500 along with medals and certificates to participants securing first, second and third places respectively. In the solo artistic yoga competition, cash rewards were given to first three places along with medals & certificates. However, organisers also presented the medals and certificates to yoga enthusiasts securing 4th, 5th and 6th place respectively in the category.

Speaking on the occasion, Yoga Federation of Mysuru President Srihari called upon people to practice yoga to build a strong nation. “Earlier, Haridwar and Rishikesh were known as the ‘Yoga Capital’ but today Mysuru has emerged as the Yoga Capital. Having created a Guinness Record for yoga, the city also witnessed Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking part in the programme organised as a part of International Day of Yoga celebrations. There is need to preserve and increase the rich yoga heritage of Mysuru,” he added.

On the occasion, guruvandana was extended to Yoga Guru Dr. Ganesh Kumar and Government Ayurveda Medical College Resident Medical Officer Dr. H.A. Shashirekha by students.

Mandya District Jail Superintendent T.K. Lokesh, UoM Department of Physical Education Director Dr. C. Venkatesh, Mysore Yoga Okkuta Hon. President Dr. A.S. Chandrashekar, President T. Jalendra Kumar, Yoga Federation of Mysuru Secretary Shashikumar, Yoga Sports Foundation Treasurer M.N. Mohan, Karnataka State Amateur Yoga Association Vice-President Girish, Secretary A. Nataraj, S. Raju of Basava Marga Samsthe, Yoga Gurus Geetha Kumar and Prem Kumar were present.

Results

Under-8 years – Boys: 1. Ruchith, 2. Nithin, 3. Chiranth, 4. Punyavardhan S. Raj, 5. Srikar B. Deepak and 6. Raghav; Girls: 1. Harsha, 2. Sannidhi, 3. Samvridhi, 4. Sharadi S. Rao, 5. Ganavi and 6. Arushi.

15-20 years – Boys: 1. Kavish, 2. Vinay Kumar, 3. Abhishek Heggade, 4. Nagashree Shaile, 5. Shivanand & 6. Nandish; Girls: 1. Madhushalini, 2. Kavya, 3. Ankitha, 4. Jhanavi, 5. Monisha & 6. Deeksha.

21-30 years – Men: 1. Bharat Gowda, 2. Sharath, 3. Sandesh, 4. Arun, 5. Aditya & 6. Yogesh; – Women: 1. Ganashree, 2. Deepa, 3. Spandana, 4. Suchithra Bharat & 5. Lakshmi Yadav.

31-40 years – Men: 1. Vinod Raj, 2. Saneesh, 3. Farhan & 4. Adarsh; Women: 1. Veena, 2. Smitha, 3. Spandana, 4. Chaitra, 5. Rashmi & 6. Priya.

Above 50 years – Men: 1. Ashwath Narayana, 2. Ravi Prakash, 3. Vijay Raghunath, 4. Ramaswamy, 5. Mahadev Nayak, 6. Gopal and 7. Jagadeesh; Women: 1. Saroja, 2. Sashibala Ramamurthy; 3. Subbalakshmi, 4. Saroja, 5. Roopa N. Rao and 6. Lalitha.