Chandigarh University clinched the overall championships of the 4th Khelo India University Games 2023, Ashtalakshmi with their boxers adding five gold, one silver and four bronze medals to ensure that none of their close contenders even had an outside chance of staking claim to the top spot.

The Khelo India University Games 2023, that started on February 17, were officially declared closed by the Hon’ble Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare, Government of Assam, Nandita Gorlosa at the Sarusajai Sports Complex on Thursday.

Vikash (Men 51-54kg), Harsh (Men 57-60kg), Deepak (Men 60-63.5kg), Priya (Women 54-57kg) and Pranjal (Women 66-70kg) clinched the gold medals for Chandigarh University, who took home the KIUG crown for the first time in four editions with a total of 71 medals, including 32 gold, 18 silver and 21 bronze.

                                                                           

Lovely Professional University were a distant second with 20 gold, 14 silver and eight bronze while Guru Nanak Dev University finished third with 12 gold, 20 silver and 19 bronze and were only contingent apart from the champions to cross the 50-medal mark. Defending champions Panjab University came up with a late surge winning five gold, two silver and three bronze medals from the boxing competitions.

Speaking about the transformation of the contingent, Chandigarh University Co-ordination Manager, Dr Mahesh Jaitely said a change in sports policy of the University was responsible for this improvement. “We increased the diet money for children three times and also increased the prize money for medal winners substantially (to attract sports talent),” he added.

Swimmers Pratyasa Ray of Utkal University with four gold, one silver and one bronze was the most successful female athlete of the Games while the honour of the most successful male athlete went to Jain University’s Xavier Michael Dsouza with four gold medals.

 

ABOUT KHELO INDIA UNIVERSITY GAMES 2023 ASHTALAKSHMI

The Khelo India University Games is a multi-discipline sports event aimed at promoting sports and fitness among university students in India. A vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi and organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, it provides a platform for young athletes to showcase their talent and compete at the national level. The Khelo India University Games Ashtalakshmi 2023, being staged over the seven states of North East India, feature an array of sporting disciplines including athletics, rugby, basketball, volleyball, swimming, badminton, hockey, fencing, kabaddi, football, tennis, mallakhamb, judo, table tennis, boxing, shooting, weightlifting, archery, wrestling, and yogasana. The Games are aimed at finding the talent that will make the nation proud in global sports tournaments.

 

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(Release ID: 2010346)