The Angkor Bodybuilding Association will organise its second ABBA Bodybuilding Competition at the Angkor Century Hotel in Siem Reap on July 21, supported by the Cambodia Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation and several local businesses.

About 50 bodybuilders from all over the country are expected to show up for the prejudging round of this one-day event, leading to the winner of the Best Physique award in the final round later in the day.

A panel of five experts will be on hand to judge the muscularity and definition along with overall fitness of the competitors, according to ABBA General Secretary Rocky Lee.

“We are expecting hundreds of fans to turn up. Admission is free, and we want the public to support bodybuilding. Our main aim is to promote fitness and bodybuilding,” Lee stated in a press release.

Participants in different weight categories from various gyms across Cambodia will show off their well-sculpted muscles to choreographed routines set to 60 seconds of music.

To add glamour and glitz to the final round, the organisers will be lining up two internationally renowned guests in the evening.

“Jonas Younes Laroussi, who finished third in the IFBB Bodybuilding Classic last year, and Maria Ingelis Carlswärd, [competitor at] the 2011 Olympia Las Vegas Flex Bikini, will display their muscular proportions,” said ABBA President David Oshima. “The competition is open to bodybuilders of all ages. The idea is to encourage more and more people to develop a healthy physique.”

ABBA, which was formed in June 2001 by a group of professional and amateur bodybuilders, organised its inaugural competition last December and has since initiated several related activities, such as biking and charity drives, for the benefit of the local communities in Siem Reap.

To contact the reporter on this story: H S Manjunath at [email protected]