Saudi's first-ever Yogasana Sports Championship in Jeddah a grand success; see photos

Yoga awareness is rapidly growing across the world and there's a strong admiration for the practice in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. From participating in India's 100 days countdown campaign leading to the International Day of Yoga to organizing lectures in schools and colleges, there's a burgeoning yoga awareness across KSA. Now, for the first time in the history of Saudi Arabia, Yogasana Sports Championship was held in Jeddah last week and concluded with grand success.

The one-day Yogasana Sports Championship was held in Jeddah on Saturday at the University of Business and Technology. The event witnessed active participation from people across different age groups, who performed various "asanas" or postures. There was enthusiasm among all participants alike, who were aged between 6 years and over 18 years. Each of the 112 participants from across the Kingdom performed on the stage and they were selected based on merit.

The Yogasana Sports Championship was organised by the Saudi Yoga Committee in cooperation with Saudi Sports Ministry as a way to promote yoga as a competitive sport. Experts from the Asian Yogasana Sports Federation were also present at the event.

Nouf Al-Marwaai, the president of Saudi Yoga Committee, was extremely proud of the launch of the tournament, which she said is reflective of the efforts of the Kingdom to promote the practice in the region. Al-Marwaai also noted that encouraging yoga practice from an early age can foster health-conscious society and competitions like these motivate youth to commit to the practice regularly.

"Such competitions motivate youth to commit to regular yoga practice," she said.

"Both the male and female referees who arbitrated the championship are from the first group of Saudi yogasana referees, whose graduation was celebrated by the committee shortly before the lunch of the tournament," she added.

According to Arab News, there were 19 women graduates in Riyadh from different parts of the Kingdom and the number of graduates in Jeddah included 22 women. The participants were prepped for the tournament thoroughly as a training camp was hosted by the University of Business and Technology a week before the event.

"Yoga has become increasingly popular in Saudi Arabia. As a yoga instructor, I have seen many people of all ages joining our classes because they realized that the sport of yogasana has many benefits for their health. I am sure that the Saudi Yoga Committee will take it to a higher level," Yoga instructor Noura Nour was quoted as saying.

Check out some photos from the event in the slideshow below: