BENGALURU: With just two weeks left for the Khelo India University Games 2021, the Government of Karnataka, along with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, is geared up to host the biggest national sporting event post-pandemic here with Jain University as the host University for the Games.
The event, which aims to create a platform for youth to showcase their sporting excellence and provides universities from across India a chance to showcase their supremacy outside the education curriculum, is slated to begin on 24th April and conclude on 3rd May.
Over 4,500 participants representing around 189 universities will vie for top honours in 20 different sports including indigenous sports like Mallakhamba and yogasana being introduced for the first time in Khelo India University Games 2021.
While 13 disciplines including weightlifting, wrestling, judo, kabaddi, volleyball, swimming, mallakhambha, yogasana, archery, fencing, karate, boxing and football will be held at the Jain University Global Campus. Football, table tennis, badminton and tennis will be held at the Jain Sports School and shooting will be held in SAI, Southern Centre. Both Campuses boast of world-class infrastructure with state-of-art amenities for sporting excellence.
A newly-laid synthetic turf for athletics at the Kanteerava Stadium will be used for the first time during the Khelo India University Games while a renovated Field Marshal Cariappa stadium awaits hockey teams to take to the field.
Karnataka Government has also taken up the initiative of making this a unique event by promoting environment sustainability. Calling it the ‘Green Games,’ the organizers will ensure there won’t be use of single-use plastic at the venues, the Games will serve food at all venues with reusable cutlery and make provision for segregated waste storage and management.
Sujata Chaturvedi (IAS), Secretary Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India and Chairman- Khelo India University Games said, “The Khelo India Games is unique because we host it in association with a new state every year, thus ensuring that the culture of sports is spread across the country. The first edition of KIUG was held in Odisha and was a major success with around 3150 athletes participating in KIUG 2022 which is being hosted with the Government of Karnataka, the numbers have gone up by 50% with more than 4,500 athletes participating. The popularity and importance of KIUG is definitely on the rise. The large number of participants and the high level of technical conduct of the Games in state-of-art venues makes the Khelo India University Games one of the biggest University-level Games in the world, and I am confident that these Games will throw up many more champions this year.”
In the inaugural edition held in 2020, Punjab University won the overall championship title and Savitribai Phule Pune University won the runners-up title.
