Indy Pro 2022 - Blessing Awodibu is the winner!

On Saturday, May 14, another edition of the Indy Pro competition took place in Indianapolis, USA, where both representatives of the Open category and their lighter colleagues from the division up to 212 pounds got their opportunity to present their musculature and forms. In both categories, besides the triumph, there was, of course, also a fight for a direct qualification to Olympia Weekend 2022.

Open Category:

The heavyweights featured a total of thirteen fighters, including our own Slavoj Bednar. However, the favourites for the victory were completely different fighters.
The main one was undoubtedly Luis Rodriguez , the winner of last year's event. Charles Griffen also wanted to reach for the triumph, and Blessing Awodibu, who made his first start among the elite last year, was also very well placed for the competition.

Luis Rodriguez, Charles Griffen, Blessing Awodibu, but also Max Charles, Dorian Haywood and Brent Swansen were given the opportunity to present themselves in front of the judges immediately in the first semi-final comparison as expected, and in view of the above.
The judges had the pair of Griffen - Awodibu in the middle right from the start, and they fought for the win. Charles was replaced by Rodriguez after the crawl, but that was more of a formality than the judges counting on him to fight for the triumph. This was confirmed in the last semi-final comparison, in which only the pair of Blessing vs. Charles stood side by side.

In the second comparison, the rest of the starting field, including our Slavoj Bednar, presented themselves. He presented a very good form here, which was already suggested by the pictures presented a week before the competition.

Two fighters, namely Ross Flanigan and Walter Martin, remained on the podium for the third comparison in which they were joined by the foursome of Luis Rodriguez, Max Charles, Dorian Haywood, Martin and Brent Swansen. They all then battled for third through eighth place.

The fourth and final semi-final comparison, as mentioned above, was a battle for the win, with only two fighters posing alongside each other, which were Blessing Awodibu and Charles Griffen.

In the end, the lucky one was the Irish bodybuilder of Nigerian origin, Blessing Awodibu, who scored his first professional triumph here exactly one year after his professional debut, thus also securing his direct participation in Mr. Olympia 2022!

However, Blessing won't start preparing for the season's top competition until later, as he now has to compete at the New York Pro 2022, which takes place this coming weekend. As he said, he will be going for the win there too!

Second place went to Charles Griffen. He was disappointed, as he was hoping for a win, but he certainly didn't disgrace himself here. There could only be one winner, and this time it just didn't work out. However, his form was excellent, and it is very likely that we will see him back on the podium very soon, where he will surely fight for the triumph again!

Third place went to Max Charles, followed by last year's winner Luis Rodriguez. Brent Swansen also managed to break into the Top 5, making his first start among the elite.

A very good eighth place from Indianopolis goes to Slavoj Bednar, who is very satisfied with the result. He said:

I am very satisfied with the form we entered the season with, and also with the 8th place, although I think it could realistically have been 2-3 places higher. But in the USA, 8th place counts a hell of a lot for a kid from Svojanov. We're happy with our form, but that doesn't mean we can't move up, and I have 6 days to do that now!! 6 days left to New York PRO!!!

Results:

1. Blessing Awodibu - qualified for Mr. Olympia 2022
2. Charles Griffen
3. Max Charles
4. Luis Rodriguez
5. Brent Swansen
6. Dorian Haywood
7. Walter Martin

8. Slavoj Bednar
9. Ross Flanigan
10. Ray Short
11. Ronald Gordon
12. Matt Kouba
13. Diogo Nunes

1. Blessing Awodibu

2. Charles Griffen

3. Max Charles

Slavoj Bednar

Other competitors

More photos can be found HERE on Npcnewsonline .com.

Categories up to 212 pounds

In the under 212 pound division, there was one more fighter lined up next to each other than there was among the heavyweights. However, you would be hard pressed to find a clear favorite here, as no bigger name was in the mix. There were in fact a large number of competitors who were making their professional debut here or those who had moved up from the Classic Physique category.

Still, there were two fighters who could be considered as strong contenders for the top positions. They were Bryan Balzano and Noel Adame, who also competed here last year, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

And it was these two, joined by the pair of Yumon Eaton and Enmanuel Rodriguez, who stood before the judges immediately in the first semi-final comparison.
The middle first belonged to the pair of Noel Adame and Yumon Eaton, who were making their debut here. However, he was soon replaced by Bryan Balzano. From that point on, it was just the two of them battling it out for the win.

Noel presented himself here with a lot of well separated muscles, but unfortunately he doesn't have a very attractive physique. Bryan came on stage also massive, and perfectly prepared. His only weakness was his poorer control of his abdominal muscles.

However, the judges forgave him this shortcoming and Bryan scored his first professional victory!

The second place went to the disappointed Noel Adame, and the third place to Enmanuel Rodriguez. Yumon Eaton had to settle for fourth place, not a bad result for a first start. Abdullah Al Saif managed to break into the Top 5.

Results:

1. Bryan Balzano - qualified for 212 Olympia 2022
2. Noel Adame
3. Enmanuel Rodriguez
4. Yumon Eaton
5. Abdullah Al Saif
6. LeLand DeVaughn
7. Teddy Gray

8. Boás Henrique
9. Broderick Credell
10. Peter Castella
11. Asante Gibson
12. Joey Decaminada
13. Arturo Cotto
14. Mark Smith

Source:
www.ifbbpro.com
www.npcnewsonline.com
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