The opening ceremony of the 3rd Edition of the Khelo India University Games will begin on May 25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate the event. The inauguration ceremony will be held in Lucknow at the Babu Banarasi Das (BBD) University. However, the sporting events started on May 23 with kabaddi.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Anurag Thakur and Union Minister of State for Sports Nisith Pramanik will probably attend the event.
Apart from various cultural programmes, singer Kailash Kher will perform during the inauguration ceremony confirmed by Navneet Sehgal, Additional Chief Secretary, Sports and Youth Welfare. He informed in addition to dignitaries and notable athletes, schoolchildren, and NCC cadets would attend the function.
He said, “Ministers from all the states of the country, including Uttar Pradesh, are being invited to the inauguration ceremony. Special care will be taken for the facilities of the visitors attending the function. Signage related to the venue of the programme will be put up at various places. A help desk will be set up at the airport… Buses and food will be arranged for the participating children”. Hostels of BBD University have been prepared to accommodate 800 women and 400 men.
Sehgal added that this “Khel Mahakumbh” will promote a completely different image of UP, as well as strengthen the sports culture and draw in new talent.
Khelo India University Games 2022 (KIUG) is a twelve-day event in which around 4000 athletes and officials from 207 universities will take part in 21 sports, such as Basketball, Mallakhamb, Volleyball, Table Tennis, Football, Rugby and Tennis. During this 3rd edition, water sports will also be played, including a rowing match at Ramgarh Tal Lake, Gorakhpur.
The sporting event will be conducted across five cities of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, Varanasi, Gautam Budh Nagar and Gorakhpur. The maximum number of sporting events will be held in Lucknow. In Varanasi, sporting events of wrestling, yogasana will be conducted at Banaras Hindu University. The sporting events of Kabaddi, Boxing, and Swimming will be held at SVSP Sports Complex in Gautam Budh Nagar. The New Delhi will cater for the venue requirements of shooting events.
According to the state Olympic association secretary-general, Anandeshwar Pandey, this event would prepare sportspersons for international competitions, “The 1982 Asian Games and the 2010 Commonwealth Games allowed New Delhi to build a world-class sporting infrastructure. It helps our sportspersons train better and win medals at international levels, including the Olympics. And through KIUG, we expect development on those lines, at least in the universities of the state”.
Even Sanjay Saraswat, executive director of the Lucknow Centre of the Sports Authority of India, concurred that KIUG aids athletes in gaining some exposure, “The idea behind Khelo India University Games is to ensure fair play in sports as there were reports of mass manipulations in the school and university Games held earlier”. He added, “All athletes deserve a chance to prove their mettle. We need to have a robust policy for university athletes”.
The Sports director of Uttar Pradesh, RP Singh, said KIUG 2022 would give a great opportunity to university athletes of Uttar Pradesh to showcase their talent and win medals.
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