THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Excitement is at a fever pitch here, as the city gears up to host the Asian Yoga Sports Championship for the first time. The eighth edition of the mega championship will open with a host of events on Thursday.
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A participation of 15 countries is expected at the yoga championship. As many as 500 participants will battle it out. It is for the second time that India will be hosting the championship.The first edition was held at Thailand and the second at Hyderabad. The eighth edition will be held in the capital city. The Indian team will be represented by 111 participants, of which five are from Kerala.
The competition which is being organised by the Yoga Federation of India and Yoga Association of Kerala under the auspices of Asian Yoga Federation will be held at the Jimmy George Indoor Stadium from September 27 to 30.
The highly packed set of events include the categories such as ‘yogasana’, ‘artistic yoga’, ‘rhythmic yoga’, ‘artistic pair yoga’, ‘free flow yoga dance’ and professional yogasana sports competition.The Yoga Association of Kerala has been organising a plethora of events and championships aimed at promoting yoga as a sport.
“The opportunities of yoga is vast and its future is immense. Yoga works on the mind and body. It is extremely beneficial for health. And as Indians, we have the edge, we are the champions. One of the challenges we are facing nowadays is the need for more coaches,” says B Balachandran, president, Yoga Association of Kerala.
Participants from China, Singapore, Dubai, South Korea, Afghanistan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Nepal, Philippines, Bangladesh, Iran, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia are set to compete at the championship.