Siddanatha Mane of Mudhol won the prestigious Dasara Kanteerava at the Mysore Dasara wrestling competitions held at the Devaraj Urs Multi Purpose stadium on Sunday.
Pehlwans from Dharwad, Bagalkot, Athani, Belgaum, Gadag, Mysore, Bangalore and other places stole the show at the free style wrestling. The stadium was packed with supporters from all walks of life encouraging the wrestlers in a keenly-contested match.
As Dasara Kesari, part of the Dasara Kanteerava, ended in draw in the first 30 minutes, the organisers had no option but to stick to Greco-Roman style based on points in which Siddanath Mane scored three points and lifted the prestigious title to win a 1,250 kg silver mace.
Panduranga Kambar of Athani taluk won the Dasara Kesari in Greco-Roman style and was presented a one kilo mace. Laxman Manoli of Belgaum won Dasara Kishore with a 750 gram mace and M Nagraj of Dharwad was declared Dasara Kumar for the second time, and was presented a 500 gram mace. They were also presented certificates, trophies and medals.
Prema Chunnanavar of Gadag won the ‘Chamundeshwari award’ for best wrestler. While, Ekata of Haryana was won the ‘Jhansirani Lakshmi Bai’ national award, the best male wrestler award was presented to Yudhi Star.
Dasara Kumara M Nagraj said that the performance of wrestler Sushil Kumar and others at the Olympics had inspired them to put maximum efforts and to dream big. Siddanatha Mane thanked his coach and friends and said that it has inspired him to take part in international events.
Dasara Wrestling Sub Committee president Giridhar said that participation of both wrestlers and public encouraged them to organise events in big way to revive the traditional sports.