SHILLONG: Pynshngain Langpen, of Body Zoo Gym, emerged as the ‘Champion of Champions’ from amongst 40 body builders from across Meghalaya in the 39th State Body Building Championships, organised by the Meghalaya Body Building Association (MBBA) at the Asom Kristi Kendra here on Saturday.
Displaying great skill and well built muscles, Langpen was crowned Mr Meghalaya 2013 after stiff competition with winners of all categories.
The eight categories based upon weight included 55kg, 60kg, 65kg, 70kg, 75kg, 80kg and 85kg.
All participants came eager to win and, this year, the contest witnessed a high level of competition with each participant sparing no effort to out-muscle each other.
At the end of the three-hour contest Rajiv Dutta won the 55kg category, Maradona Rabon won the 60kg category, Titan Paul bagged the 65kg crown, Pynshngain Langpen won the 70kg category, Sallim Sangma won the 75kg category, Badon Kupar Lyngdoh won the 80kg category and Brian Bazeley bagged the 85kg title.
The winners then had to take on each other for the ultimate title, which eventually went to Langpen.
The panel of judges included Aubrey F Laloo, Neal Tariang, Gordon Lyngdoh, Balap Kharshiing, Subhash Paul, Bimal Paul, Kali Pada Ghosh and were supervised by Lohit Das, the MBBA president and Chairman of the Legal Cell of the Indian Body Building Federation (IBBF).
After a gap of 23 years, all body building associations have come together for a single cause – to promote the sport effectively in the state, informed Arnold Lanong, the general secretary of MBBA.
“Over the years, several clubs have emerged leading to numerous competitions and many winners. This proved a dampener in selecting the official representatives for regional and national level competitions,” he said.
Recently the IBBF, which is affiliated to the World Body Building Federation (WBBF), issued a directive to all states to have only one association so that promotion of the sport is focused and concerted as well as to iron out selection problems for the various competitions.
Earlier, the 33rd State Yogasan Championships were held at the same venue for boys and girls between the ages of eight and 15. Winner of the Under-8 (boys and girls) category was Aasma Subba, 8-12 years (boys) was won by Chirag Deb, 8-12 years (girls) was won by Diya Chanda and 12-15 years (mixed) was won by Shiva Deb.