Inaugural Khelo India School Games to feature World and Asian Champions

The Central Government's flagship sports developmental program, the Khelo India School Games is all set to kick off in Delhi at the end of this month. This competition is set to be one of the biggest events when it comes to sport at the Grassroot level and, as such, the excitement surrounding it quite high. Today, it was announced that this competition to select an elite bunch of budding sportspeople will also include World and Asian Youth medallists in their participating bunch. Among the names cited on the official website was 15-year old Jeremy Lalrinnunga from Mizoram. This youngster clinched the silver medal at the IWF World Youth Weightlifting Championships in Bangkok in April last. The winner of youth and junior gold in the Commonwealth Championships in Gold Coast, Jeremy will be competing in this inagural edition of the Games. Among other notable names are Andhra Pradesh's Bommadevara Dhiraj who made ripples with five Gold medals in Archery at the School Games Federation of India National competition in Ahmedabad last month. Before that, Dhiraj had clinched silver in the Asian Continental Archery qualifying competition for the Youth Olympic Games. With such names in the kitty, the Khelo India School Games promises to be a high profile and competitive event. According to official records, 3658 nominations have been sent by the Khelo India School Games Organising Committee. This number includes athletes from 36 States and Union Territories who are expected to feature in the 16 disciplines. Speaking on the positive developments around the KI School Games, Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said, 'We are excited by the tremendous response from across the country,' The revamped Khelo India, an integral part of the emerging New India, will be the seamless assembly line that will take Indians from schools to the global Games." "The School Games will create aspirations among young athletes,' he added. As the level of competition keeps getting tougher with the addition of these high profile names, the outcome is sure to be equally brilliant. Theoretically, this tournament is aimed at identifying and grooming the cream of sports brilliance among India's youth. The 10 individual disciplines include Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Gymnastics, Judo, Shooting, Swimming, Weightlifting and Wrestling while Basketball, Football, Hockey, Kabaddi, Kho-kho and Volleyball are the six team sports which will be featured in the competition. So far, official numbers suggest that the maximu participation will be from Delhi, a city which has always been a kind of pioneer when it comes to developmental programs in sport at the very basic level. 35 disciplines in Swimming sees a staggering participation of 592 competitors. The largest number of entries are in Athletics with 640 boys and girls  over 36 disciplines. The Khelo India School Games will begin on January 31