The new Mr India.

The 2018 Mr India competition at the 11th Mr. India Senior Men’s and Women’s Body Building & 6th Men’s and Women’s Physique Sports National Championship was a closely contested war. The bodybuilders were pushed through three rounds of posing, and on Monday morning, longtime contender Ram Niwas was declared winner.

Ram upset two-time champion and crowd favorite Sunit Jadhav of Maharashtra. Both men were in top form during the final round in the packed boxing auditorium at Balewadi. But eventually the conditioning, balance, and stage presence of Niwas won out and dashed Jadhav’s hopes for a consecutive hat trick.

At age 31, Ram has been a bodybuilder for over 14 years, winning many regional and national titles. He told Free Press Journal:

“Finally, I have won the Mr India crown and my 14 years of hard work has paid off. I am grateful to Dr Somu and Chetan Pathare, who have been my mentors in my 14 years associated with bodybuilding.”

Junior clerk of Indian Railways gave his condolences to the runner up.

“Sunit Jadhav is a very good sportsman and my best wishes will always be with him.”

The contest also means that the Railways Sports Promotion Board will extend their hold on the team championship. Their team won five gold medals total, with Maharashtra and Delhi finished in the second and third places.

The final results as posted by Free Press Journal are as follows:

Women Sports Model: 1. Sanju (UP), 2. Soniya Mitra (WB), 3. Ankita Singh (Kar)
Men (75KG): 1. V Jayprkash (RSPB), 2. MD Saddam (UP), 3. Sushil Murkar (Mah-B)
80KG: 1. Sagar Katurde (Mah-A), 2. N Serbo Singh (RSPB), 3. B Maheshwaran (TN)
85KG: 1. Narender Yadav (Del), 2. Pritam Chougule (RSPB), 3. A Boby Singh (RSPB)
90kg: 1. Sunit Jadhav (Mah), 2. Mahendra Chavan (Mah), 3. Riju Paul Jose (Gujarat)
90 – 100KG: 1. Ram Niwas (RSPB), 2. Mahendra Pagade (Mah-A), 3. S Senthil Kumaran (TN).

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