Returning winner Deepak Kataria, a forklift driver from CWT-SML Logistics, retained his first place among 41 participants in the Forklift Challenge held at the recently concluded Materials Handling Middle East 2019 exhibition.

The competition was held in three rounds, the first of which took place on the opening day of the show last week, with the other two rounds the following day. The participants, who came from 15 companies, were put through a series of trials in which they were judged on three main criteria: safety, speed and efficiency. Nine finalists progressed to the final round.

“I’m very excited to be taking home the win again. As the returning champion from the last contest, I found there was some tough competition this year, but I was for up the challenge,” said Kataria, who had won the last edition of the competition.

Participating companies also included Lulu Centre Logistics, DP World, Agility and Global Shipping and Logistics, among others, said a statement from the organisers of Materials Handling Middle East, which hosted close to 100 exhibitors from over 30 countries, which included Japanese automation providers, Daifuku; Germany’s Schafer; the regional branch of industrial solutions provider, ACME; and Kuwaiti transportation logistics giant, Agility.