New Delhi: Several international para athletes including Paris 2024 gold medallists, archer Harvinder Singh and club thrower Dharambir, will be seen in action at the upcoming Khelo India Para Games scheduled to be held here from March 20 to 27, said Union sports minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya.
This will be the second edition of the Khelo India Para Games. The first edition was also held in Delhi in December 2023.
In all, around 1230 para-athletes will compete in six disciplines in the upcoming KIPG 2025, many of them medallists from the 2024 Paris Paralympics and the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China.
Competitions in KIPG 2025 will be held in para archery, para-athletics, para-badminton, para powerlifting, para shooting, and para table tennis. In the first edition, football (cerebral palsy) was also played, the sports ministry informed in a release on Wednesday.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will host the para-athletics, para-archery, and para-powerlifting disciplines from March 21 to 26, while the IG Stadium complex will stage the para-badminton and para-table tennis events from March 20 to 27. Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range will host the para-shooting events from March 21 to 25.
India had finished with a record 29 medals at Paris 202 including seven gold medals with 25 Khelo India athletes were part of the 84-member Indian contingent at the Paris Paralympics. Five of them returned with medals from Paris.
Para sport is a priority area for the government of India. No less than 52 para-athletes are in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) core group for the 2028 LA Olympics cycle.
“The phenomenal rise of our para-athletes is a huge inspiration to sportspersons at large. This ‘can do’ attitude is really motivating and I am sure we will see some great performances at the upcoming Khelo India Para Games,” Dr. Mandaviya.
In 2025, the Khelo India Para Games will be the second national event conducted by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) after the Khelo India Winter Games, the first part of which was held in Ladakh in January and the concluding portion scheduled in Gulmarg, Jammu & Kashmir from March 9 to 12.
Khelo India Para Games is part of the Khelo India mission to provide a platform for talented athletes to showcase their sporting and competitive skills. The first edition of the Khelo India Para Games, held in December 2023, was organised to enable para-athletes to showcase their talent at the national level.
The Games were played in seven sports disciplines across three venues in New Delhi. The second edition of KIPG, also to be held in the capital in March 2025, will be held in six sports.
(IANS)
