PATNA (Bihar): All roads will lead to the Patliputra Sports Complex on Sunday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate the seventh edition of the Khelo India Youth Games. Hosts Bihar will be staging its first biggest multi-discipline sporting event in its history, where more than 6,000 athletes will compete in 27 medal sports till May 15.
Maharashtra will aim for a hattrick of titles. Having won the team championships in Madhya Pradesh (2023) and Tamil Nadu (2024), Maharashtra will be fielding more than 430 athletes in the Bihar edition of the Khelo India Youth Games, an under-18 championships this time.
Bihar, which finished 21st in the last KIYG in Tamil Nadu, will take inspiration from the fact that a state has always done well whenever it hosted the youth Games. Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu finished on the podium in the years they hosted KIYG.
Bihar and Maharashtra will be fielding the biggest contingents in the Khelo India Youth Games. Both states will have more than 400 athletes each. Haryana, a traditional powerhouse in these Games, will have more than 300 athletes. Karnataka (236) and Tamil Nadu (307) will also have big representations, a release said.
Thirty-six states and Union Territories will feature in KIYG 2025. The attraction of the Games has touched every corner of the country and this reflects in the fact that Andaman and Nicobar Islands will field a 10-member team including five women, many of them cyclists. Ladakh, known for ice and snow sports, will have 14 while Lakshadweep will have 12 and Sikkim 15 athletes.
The Khelo India Youth Games 2025 will be significant from a long-term prospect point of view. Several scouts will be watching every sport to spot talent who can be groomed for the 2032 and 2036 Olympics. It is pertinent to mention that India have bid to host the 2036 Summer Games.
Several Khelo India athletes will feature in these Games and all eyes will be on their performance. In the last Games, 30 records were created. These included 22 national youth weightlifting records and eight athletic meet records.
In Bihar, 284 gold medals will be at stake. The maximum number (38) of gold medals will be in swimming. Athletics will have 34, while wrestling, weightlifting, and boxing will have more than 20 gold medals each. Day 1 action starts with archery (in Bhagalpur), kabaddi (in Rajgir), and volleyball (in Patna). (ANI)
