Khelo India University Games get underway in Guwahati

The fourth edition of Khelo India University Games got underway in Guwahati with a round of kabaddi matches with around 4500 athletes from 200 universities across the country in the fray.  It will once again be a close battle for supremacy between powerhouses Punjab University and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar – who were separated by a single medal at the top of the table in the last edition in Uttar Pradesh. 

Punjab University will be fielding a big contingent of 151 members while Guru Nanak Dev University has a jumbo contingent with 238 members. A benchmark of the level of enthusiasm to participate in the inter-discipline Games is that as many as 10 universities have a contingent size stretching to three digits. 

The KIUG is a part of the Indian government’s Khelo India initiative that was launched in 2016. The Khelo India mission, conducted under the aegis of Sports Authority of India (SAI), is aimed at promoting grassroots sport and identifying young talents from across the country and comprises of Khelo India Youth Games (held in Chennai in January), KIUG and Khelo India Winter Games (being held in Ladakh and J&K).

While a segment of the competition started on Saturday, the Games are scheduled to be formally inaugurated by Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, at the Sarusajai Sports Complex, Guwahati on Monday. The Games, being played across seven sister states of the North-East, will end on 29 February.