Bellary: As Hampi Utsav-2014 entered its second day, the clear stars of the show were the wrestling and stone lifting competitions which drew huge crowds at the Kadirampura village sports arena on Saturday .
Open to both men and women, the wrestling competition saw 22 male wrestlers vie for the title of Hami Kesari in the medium weight category and 25 others compete for the Hampi Kishore title in the heavy weight category.
As many as 22 females also wrestled in the arena in various other categories. It was the men, however, who were cheered the most by the spectators. While supporters of the participants encouraged their every move, egging them on to overpower their opponents, the police tightened security to make sure the enthusiasm did not turn into violence as the matches progressed.
The participating wrÂestlers were mainly from northern districts like Bijapur and Gulbarga. While the wrestlers walking away with the titles of ‘Hampi Kesari’ and ‘Hampi Kishore’ will carry home a cash prize of Rs 25,000, the runners-up will take home a prize of Rs 15,000.
Stone- lifting, the IndÂianised version of weight- lifting, saw eight men competing to emerge the strongest. With the competition barred to women, it was an all male affair.
While Kumar Jagadeesh from Athani of Belgaum was declared winner, Ibrahim from Jamakhandi stood in second place and Kariyappa, also from Jamakhandi stood third. As the crowds cheered their heroes the organisers of the events appeared clearly elated at their success.
