The Vice President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar addressed the Closing Ceremony of 36th National Games at Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya Indoor Stadium in Surat today. Shri Om Birla, Speaker, Lok Sabha, Shri Acharya Devvrat, Governor of Gujarat, Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel, Chief Minister of Gujarat, Ministers and Parliamentarians from the state of Gujarat, participating sportspersons, officials and others attended the Closing Ceremony of the games. The closing ceremony was marked by colourful cultural programmes which was followed by spectacular pyrotechnics marking the closing of 36^th National Games.

During his address Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar said that the sporting events act as a great national unifier with the athletes from across the states coming together and building lifelong relationships and a strong sense of camaraderie among them.

The Vice President congratulated the state government for the successful organisation of the mega sporting event which saw many new records being set in different streams over the last few weeks. “Athletes will carry fond memories and a new enthused spirit of nationalism from here,” he said.

Referring to the remarkable growth of sporting infrastructure in the country over the last few years, Shri Dhankhar expressed confidence that “the day is not far when Bharat will host the Olympics.” Praising the vision of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, he said that all efforts are being made to provide right opportunities and proper grooming to budding sporting talent in the country. The new sporting culture driven by merit and fair selection is a game changer, he added. 

In his address, Shri Dhankhar mentioned the heart-warming incident when the Prime Minister personally spoke to every member of Indian Woman’s Hockey Team after they narrowly missed a medal at Tokyo Olympics, and emphasised that “more than victory or defeat, it is the sportsmanship that matters.”

Mentioning that this was his first visit to Gujarat after taking over as the Vice President of India, Shri Dhankhar said that he was overwhelmed by the love and affection showered by the people of the state. Praising Gujarat’s contribution to national development, he said that “historic contributions have been made in pre-independent and post independent era by sons of Gujarat.”

Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel pointed out that sports was beginning to become a way of life in the state as well as country. “Our new Sports Policy should help the athletes in the state to aim higher. To develop the skills of athletes, we have also started the Swarnim Gujarat Sports University and I hope the university helps create Olympic athletes,” he added.

The National Games flag was handed over to a delegation led by Sports Minister Govind Gaude from Goa, hosts of the the 2023 edition.

Honourable Vice-President Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar gave away the coveted Raja Bhalindra Singh Trophy to the hybrid contingent of Services for the fourth time in succession. They cornered 61 gold, 35 silver and 32 bronze to tower over all the competing teams.

Maharashtra bagged the Indian Olympic Association’s Best State trophy for finishing second in the medals tally with the most medals amongst States and UTs.

Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel presented the Best Male Athlete to Sajan Prakash (5 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) who pipped Karnataka’s Srihari Nataraj (5 gold and 2 silver) at the post in a dramatic finish. This was Sajan Prakash’s second successive honour, having won the same trophy in 2015 as well.

Karnataka’s Hashika Ramchandra, barely 14 years old, appropriated the Best Female Athlete crown with 6 gold and 1 bronze. She received her award from Lok Sabha speaker Shri Om Birla.

 

Gujarat’s 10-year-old Shauryajit Khaire (Mallakhamb), who was a reluctant starter after losing his father just a few days back, emerged as the ‘viral star’ of the Games, becoming its youngest medal winner.

As many as 38 National Games records crumbled in Track and Field at the IIT Gandhinagar and 36 in Aquatics in Rajkot. Tamil Nadu’s Rosy Meena Paulraj (Women’s Paul Vault) and N Ajith (Weightlifting Men's 73kg Clean & jerk), Services’ Siva Subramaniam (Men’s Pole Vault), UP’s Ram Baboo (Men's 35km Race Walk) and Arunachal Pradesh’s Sambo Lapung (Weightlifting Men's 96kg Clean & jerk) were among the few to shatter National Records too.

Unmindful of the carnage above them, sporting powerhouses Maharashtra and Haryana engaged in a bitter tussle till the very end before the former emerged as the worthy No. 2 with 39 gold, 38 silver and 63 bronze. Haryana (38 gold, 38 silver, 39 bronze) had to be satisfied with the third position on the table.

Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala took the fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively on the medal table. Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Manipur finished with a creditable 20 gold each.

Hosts Gujarat also registered their best ever performance in the history of National Games, bagging 13 gold, 15 silver and 21 bronze medals for a total of 49. The hosts finished 12th in the overall standings.

As many as 29 teams won at least one gold and three other contingents finished with at least one medal to show for their efforts.

Services topped the tables with 61 Gold, 35 Silver and 32 Bronze Medals. Maharashtra secured second spot while Haryana occupied third place. Gold minting swimmers Sajan Prakash of Kerala and Hashika Ramachandra of Karnataka were crowned the Best Athletes in the Male and Female Categories respectively.

The Vice President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar & Dr Sudesh Dhankhar who arrived in Surat on a three-day tour were welcomed by Shri Acharya Devvrat, Governor of Gujarat along with the Ministers from the Government of Gujarat and others at the Surat airport. In the next two days they will visit the Statue of Unity and Sabarmati Ashram and also attend a number of events organised by the state government and community organisations.

More than 14, 500 sportspersons, coaches and officials from all States and Union Territories participated in this year’s National Games which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on September 29th, 2022.

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MS/RK/AM

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