The fifth edition of the International Kettlebell Lifting Federation BOLT India championship, recently organised by fitness start-up COREFit, saw the participation of 70 contestants from across India, including Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Delhi, NCR, Gujarat and Uttarakhand. The event had entries from Indonesia and Italy as well. The event saw competition in multiple categories, including Open (19-39 years), Masters 1 (40-50), Masters 2 (above 50), Junior (till age 19) and Youth (till age 13). Each category had five to seven athletes competing on average. The event saw almost equal participation of men and women, besides children aged between seven and 13.
Samrat Sen, founder, COREFit
“We are very happy to see a big jump in participation this year. And also a lot of new faces who are trying the sport for the first time, along with veterans who have been shouldering the sport for the last 10 years. Every year we try to scale up the event with more inclusion and more facilities for lifters like nurse/ physiotherapy and so on. This year we made unique 3D custom kettlebell medals which were loved by everyone,” said Samrat Sen, director of sports, IKLF. COREFit has been organising kettlebell competitions for the last six years.
“This is the second time I am competing. I did expect the win,” said Rawnak Banu, who lifted the heaviest kettlebells in the female BOLT Iron Man special event.
Everyone had pleasant things to say about how kettlebell is perceived. “I have a long association with Samrat (Sen). Although my style is different, it’s ultimately the same sport. It takes a lot of practice and strength-building to come to this stage,” said Debasish Chandra Paloi who set a new record for 28kg snatch with 170 reps.
“I have been playing for the last 15 years. At the age of 47 too, I can’t control myself when I see people demonstrating their skills with kettlebells,” said Binita Bhutoria who won in BOLT Iron Man masters 1 lightweight category.
(l-r) Roquia Begum participates in the female medium-weight, Open, KT1 category, Shalini Singh participates in the female medium weight, Masters, KT1 category