KANHANGAD: Defending champion Palakkad on Sunday lifted the Gold Cup at the 60th State School Arts Festival in Kanhangad to continue its dominance of the premier arts and cultural competition.
The winner, which trailed art and lit powerhouses Kozhikode and Kannur on the first three days, edged out the duo by two points to bag the cup with 951 points.
Kozhikode and Kannur were tied at 949 points to share the second spot.Thrissur came in third with 940 points. Malappuram and Ernakulam were placed a distant fourth and fifth positions with 909 points and 904 points, respectively. Host Kasaragod finished eighth with 875 points.
Among the schools, BSS Gurukulam Higher Secondary School, Alathur, Palakkad, topped the table with 161 points. NS Higher Secondary School, Mannar, Alappuzha, finished a distant second with 130 points.
This year, in the higher secondary (HSS ) category Kannur was way ahead of its peers with 511 points. Palakkad and Kozhikode scored 505 and 503 points, respectively in the HSS category.
In the High School category, Palakkad and Kozhikode shared the honours with 446 points.Thrissur came in second with 445 points and Kannur finished third with 438 points.Assistant director of general education (Academic) C A Santhosh announced the winners.
Palakkad had first won the title in 2018 when it dethroned Kozhikode — which had been ruling the roost for the past 12 years — at the State School Arts Festival held in Alappuzha.
In the Arabic Festival, Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, and Palakkad scored 95 points to top the table, while Ernakulam and Thrissur emerged joint first in the Sanskrit festival.
Around 13,000 students took part in 239 events held in 28 stages spread across Kanhangad and Nileshwar and Bellikoth. All the participants received prizes.
Officials said 3,061 students came to the state-level competition by appealing against the decision of the judges in district level competitions.
Of the total 642 appeals, Thiruvananthapuram made the highest number of appeals at 79.