BAHRAIN's Sami Al Haddad produced another magnificent show at the IFBB New York Pro.

Although it was Al Haddad's first IFBB Pro event, the Bahraini put on an amazing show and narrowly missed first place in the 212lbs weight category where he eventually finished second behind winner Kevin English.

This weight class saw 13 of the world's professional bodybuilders reaching the final show after qualifying from the pre-judging earlier in the day.

The remaining contestants were Jose Raymond, Marco Rivera, Gaetana Cisternino, Mboya Edwards, Raul Carrasco, Nathan DeTracy, Milton Holloway, Panexce Pierre, Luis Santiago, Luis Santa and Naor Ziv.

The event was attended by thousands of bodybuilding supporters who saw a better Raymond last year. He was thick and hard but the classic conditioning Jose used to have is no longer there and wasn't enough to edge out the reigning 202 Mr Olympia Kevin English.

English, on the other hand, presented his large legs and big shoulders but the effort to make weight may have taken a toll.

Al Haddad displayed classic aesthetics and exhibited what a bodybuilder should look like: conditioned, well-toned, balanced and well-defined round muscle bellies.

The audience verbally expressed their displeasure with his second place by a lot of vociferous 'boo's. But maybe the lack of muscle compared to English edged the Bahraini out of first and into a comfortable second place.

A record 109 IFBB competitors competed in New York at the Tribeca Performing Arts Centre, in six IFBB pro contests. The event is under the umbrella of the International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB).

Meanwhile, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first vice-chairman and Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa congratulated Al Haddad on the achievement.

Shaikh Khalid also expressed gratitude to His Majesty King Hamad as well as chairman of the council and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa for their support to Bahraini athletes in different disciplines.