Khelo India: Chandigarh University emerge overall champions

Chandigarh University stood tall in the competition as they emerged overall champions for the first time in the Khelo India University Games, as the current edition concluded at the Sarusajai Sports Complex in Guwahati on Thursday evening, 29 February. They finished with a total of 71 medals, including 32 golds, 18 silvers and 21 bronzes.

Lovely Professional University were a distant second with 20 golds, 14 silvers and 8 bronzes, while Guru Nanak Dev University finished third with 12 golds, 20 silvers and 19 bronzes — the latter being the only contingent apart from the champions to cross the 50-medal mark.

A glittering closing ceremony, with traditional musical performances from local artists, marked the end of the fourth edition.

Assam was hosting the games for the second time. Speaking on the occasion, Nandita Gorlosa, the state’s minister of sports and youth welfare, said: “Assam has established itself as a major sports destination of the North-East by successfully hosting major events like the National Games, South Asian Games and the Khelo India Youth Games.

"Recently, Assam also hosted a grassroots-level sports event, Khel Maharan, where more than 27,00,000 athletes have participated and we will now be having this Khel Maharan final in six districts of Assam. Hopefully, we will see that the younger generation are much more interested in sport and we will be able to tap them for the future," she added

The fourth edition witnessed participation from more than 5,000 athletes from over 163 universities in the 20 disciplines. Events were held across various venues in Assam and the other north-eastern states.

The games this time witnessed a number of record-breaking performances in various events, with the participation of several of our Paris Olympics medal prospects, such as rifle shooter Sift Kaur Samra.

Over 900 local volunteers manned the various Khelo India venues. With Guwahati acting as the transit point for participating athletes as they travelled to and from venues in the other north-eastern states, they also helped coordinate arrivals and departures.