Squash will make its debut at Khelo India Youth Games debut while Silambam, a traditional martial art, will be a demonstration sport.
Chennai: Over 5600 sportspersons across 26 sporting disciplines will be vying for a total of 278 gold, 278 silver and 377 bronze medals over the next fortnight as the sixth edition of Khelo India Youth Games kick off on Friday in Tamil Nadu. The competition will be held in 12 venues across four cities in Chennai, Madurai, Trichy and Coimbatore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will declare open the Games in a grand opening ceremony at Chennai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Defending champions Maharashtra and challengers Haryana will once again rekindle their competitive spirit as they aim to underline their supremacy. In the last five editions of the Khelo India Youth Games (the first one was called the Khelo India School Games), Maharashtra won the overall crown thrice while Haryana got the better of their nearest rivals twice.
Such has been the dominance of Maharashtra and Haryana in the Khelo India Youth Games, that no other state has even come within touching distance of their medals tally in any of the five editions. This year, Maharashtra will be fielding a 415-strong squad competing in 24 sports disciplines while Haryana will have a contingent size of 491 members.
Hosts Tamil Nadu has the largest contingent in the Games with 559 members. Meanwhile, squash will make its Khelo India Youth Games debut in the city that has been home to the sport in India for over three decades while Tamil Nadu’s traditional martial-arts form, Silambam, will be a demo sport. Swimming and Athletics will have 38 and 32 gold medals on offer respectively while boxing (20), cycling (16) gymnastics (17), fencing (12), shooting (16), weightlifting (20) and wrestling (21) will be the other major medal events.
Launched in 2016, the Khelo India scheme aimed at providing financial assistance to talented athletes apart from establishing and supporting multiple Khelo India Academies. These Games have helped unearth talent aplenty and that has helped form a reservoir of talent across Olympic disciplines.
Since 2018, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports have organised five Khelo India Youth Games, three Khelo India University Games and three Khelo India Winter Games and multiple Khelo India Women’s Leagues in various sports. The inaugural Khelo India Para Games were held in New Delhi in December. A total of Rs 2418 crore was allotted for the Khelo India scheme from 2016-2023 and further provision of Rs 3165 crore has been made for the next five years.
Among the other states, hosts Tamil Nadu has set themselves a target of breaking into the top-three in the medals tally and are banking on local support to encourage the players. Last edition third-place finishers Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Kerala will be the other contenders for the top-10 positions on the medal tally. The Khelo India Youth Games will be live on DD Sports.