You are the hopes of 1.4 billion Indians: Mandaviya tells KIUG athletes

Jaipur, Nov 24 (PTI) The fifth edition of the Khelo India University Games (KIUG) got off to a colourful start at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Monday.

During the ceremony, Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told the participating athletes that "you are the hopes of 1.4 billion Indians".

The event is being held under the aegis of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in collaboration with the Rajasthan government, the state sports council, and the Association of Indian Universities, with technical support from the national sports federations. Poornima University is the host university.

The November 24-December 5 Games, to be held in seven cities across Rajasthan, will see a whopping 4448 athletes from 222 universities compete in 23 medal sports.

Kho-kho will be a demonstration event as per the sports ministry's plans to promote indigenous sports. Two hundred and ninety-six gold medals will be up for grabs.

Chief Minister of Rajasthan Bhajanlal Sharma declared open the KIUG 2025 in the presence of Mandaviya.

"As I stand here, what I see is not just a crowd of athletes — I see the hopes of 1.4 billion Indians. You will be the sporting heroes of tomorrow. You are the ones who will carry the nation's tricolour to podiums across the world.

"With this hope, I extend my heartfelt thanks to all the athletes participating in this event, to the organisers, to the ministers of the Rajasthan government, and to all colleagues associated with sports administration," said Mandaviya.

In the last edition of KIUG held across northeast India, Chandigarh University topped with 66 medals, including 28 gold.

Lovely Professional University and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar finished second and third respectively.

"In every major sporting nation in the world, universities are the talent nurseries — and this change has also begun in India. These Khelo India University Games will move further in the direction of strengthening those possibilities. Lovely Professional University sent 11 athletes to Tokyo 2020, and 24 to Paris Olympics 2024.

"Just imagine: when 21% of the entire Indian contingent comes from a single university, then if every university in the country uses its full potential, imagine what we can achieve," said Mandaviya.

The sports minister added, "From DAV College, Jalandhar, 27 Olympians have emerged; from Delhi University, nice players reached the Paris Olympics. What greater proof can there be that when universities produce Olympians, our path to becoming a global sporting superpower by 2047 becomes clear.

"I agree that we are the land of Takshashila and Nalanda Universities — but we are also the country of legends like Major Dhyan Chand, Milkha Singh, and Neeraj Chopra. Along with our academic excellence, we must now become a nation that celebrates our sporting excellence as well." PTI SSC SSC AH