Diu, May 18: The Khelo India initiative will spread its wings further — this time to India’s coastlines — with the launch of the inaugural Khelo India Beach Games at the pristine Ghoghla Beach beginning on Monday.
More than 1000 athletes from across the country will compete in six medal events and two demonstration sports over six action-packed days, culminating on Saturday. The medal events will include beach soccer, beach volleyball, beach kabaddi, beach sepak takraw, pencak silat, and open water swimming.
The demonstration sports — mallakhamb and tug-of-war — will also be staged, celebrating traditional Indian sports with coastal flair. This isn’t the first time Diu has embraced the beach sports format.
In January 2024, the region successfully hosted a national-level Beach Games event, where Madhya Pradesh emerged as overall champions with 18 medals, including seven gold. Hosts Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand each bagged 12 medals, while Assam bagged five gold medals in an overall haul of eight.
This event marks the latest addition to the Khelo India platform, which already includes Youth, University, Para, and Winter Games.
On Sunday, Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced the broadening of the scope of the Khelo India initiative with the introduction of multiple Games to cover school sports, martial arts, beach and water sports from this year onwards.
Since its inception in 2017-18, Khelo India has sought to strengthen India’s grassroots sporting culture, unearth young talent, and provide a structured platform for competitive development.
The Khelo India Beach Games will be attended Mandaviya and Minister of State for Sports Raksha Nikhil Khadse. Also present will be Praful Khodabhai Patel, who is the administrator of the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and the union territory of Lakshadweep.
Several top sportspersons like Sakshi Punia (kabaddi), Joginder Singh (hockey), Trupti Murgunde (badminton), Mamta Prabhu (table tennis) and Ravi Kumar Katulu (weightlifter) will grace the opening ceremony, which will showcase rich culture of the region, including Gujrat’s folk-dance Garba. To showcase diversity, Northern India’s Bhangra, Southern India’s Kathakali and East’s Bihu will also be staged. Popular Gujrati singer Geeta Ben Rabari will present a music performance.
