A sober and sombre ceremony brought the curtains down on the 3rd Khelo Indian University Games (KIUG) 2022 Uttar Pradesh (UP) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Banaras Hindu University (BHU) campus in India’s spiritual capital Varanasi today.

Uion Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports  Shri Anurag Singh Thakur and Chief Minister, UP, Shri Yogi Adityanath and MoS , Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Nisith Pramanik were among those present on the occasion

 The victims of the rail accident tragedy in Odisha were remembered on the occasion. Two minutes of silence was observed by all to pay their respects to all those who lost their lives in the tragedy yesterday. The event started with Ganesh Vandana followed by a Yogasana performance.

The KIUG 2022 UP, the third edition of India’s biggest multi-sport event at the higher education level, saw over 4000 athletes from over 200 Universities compete in 21 sporting disciplines over 12 competition days. In the end, Panjab University, Chandigarh (PUC) were declared the overall champions with a tally of 26 gold, 17 silver and 26 bronze medals, thereby regaining the mantle they had lost to Jain University in the second edition, after being the champions in the inaugural edition in Odisha. Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (GNDU) who came second (24 gold, 27 silver,17 bronze) and Jain University, Karnataka (16 gold, 10 silver, 6 bronze) who came third were all presented with glittering winners trophies at the ceremony.

Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Shri Yogi Adityanath said, “I would like to pay my respect to all those who have lost their loved ones in yesterday’s rail accident in Balasore, Odisha. In the past two weeks, we had the honour to host more than 4000 athletes from all over India who showed some excellent sportsmanship. In our country, sports is reaching new heights under the vision of PM Shri Narendra Modi .We have won more medals in the past 9 years than ever and the improvement in sports infrastructure is something to be proud of.

 Sports grounds and stadiums are being made across rural and urban areas to empower and encourage more kids to take up sports. More than 65 thousand Sports kits have been provided already in the state. Khelo India University Games is an example of achieving the dream of  PM Shri Narendra Modi ji to make India a sporting superpower. We had big concerns over organising games due to summer hear but the excellent organisation team and players made this the most successful games ever and I would like to extend my gratitude to them. We wanted to conclude the tournament in a spectacular manner in PM’s constituency but due to the unfortunate incident in Odisha, we decided to not go ahead with the same.”

Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, in his address, said, “At the outset, I would like to pay my respect to all those who lost lives in the unfortunate rail accident yesterday. I would like to say that Uttar Pradesh has delivered the best Khelo India University Games so far. Sports and sportspersons are being given a lot of importance in the state. Under the able leadership of PM Shri Narendra Modi ji and Chief Minister Shri Yogi Adityanath ji, UP has ensured the successful organisation of the KIUGUP2022.

“I would like to extend my congratulations and gratitude to the entire team of UP Government and all the host universities. No stones were left unturned for the comfort of our athletes by the UP government and I would like to extend my thanks to the UP Government on behalf of the Government of India. Furthermore, a modern facility is being built in Sigra, Varanasi which will soon be handed over to all the athletes. We will soon make India a sports superpower.”

Other dignitaries present on the occasion were Shri Girish Chandra Yadav, Sports Minister, Uttar Pradesh, Shri Sanjay Nishad, Minister Fisheries, Uttar Pradesh, DS Mishra, Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Navneet Sehgal, Additional Chief Secretary, Dept. of Sports, Uttar Pradesh, Shri Sandip Pradhan, DG, Sports Authority of India and Shri Viraj Sagar Das, President, BBD Group among others.

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NB/SK