In an exciting finish that resembled a tied match in cricket, Kozhikode and Palakkad shared the Gold Cup at the 55 State School Arts Festival here on Wednesday.
Kozhikode, the host and champion for the last eight successive years, and Palakkad ended up with 916 points each. Thrissur finished second with 899 points, while Kannur was third with 889.
The challenger was still ahead when the final day’s competitions got under way, but Kozhikode made a late surge, just as it did in Palakkad last year, when it nosed ahead of Palakkad almost at the last minute. Kozhikode will keep the cup for the first six months and Palakkad the six months after that. It was after 15 years that the cup was being shared. Kannur and Ernakulam were the joint champions in 2000.
The title for the best-performing school in the high school section was bagged by BSS Gurukulam, Alathur (Palakkad), scoring 116 points. In the higher secondary section, Silver Hills, Kozhikode, came on top with 155 points.
Kollam, Thrissur, Ernakulam, and Kozhikode shared the championship in the Sanskrit Festival.
In the Arabic Festival, the title was won jointly by Malappuram, Kannur, Kasaragod, Wayanad, Palakkad, Alappuzha and Kozhikode.
Education Minister P.K. Abdu Rabb, who inaugurated the closing ceremony, said a new event, for tribespeople, would be added to the festival next year. “The prize-winning creations in the off-stage events would be displayed from next year,” he said. “To limit the number of contestants coming through the appeal route, the present system will have to be overhauled.”
