Several international para athletes will be seen in action at the upcoming Khelo India Para Games scheduled to be held in New Delhi from March 20-27, said Union Minister of youth Affairs & Sports, 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. Around 1230 para athletes will compete in six disciplines in the upcoming KIPG 2025, many of them medallists from 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 Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will host the para athletics, para archery, para powerlifting disciplines from 21^st to 26^th March, while IG Stadium complex will stage the para badminton and para table tennis events from 20^th to 27^th March. Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range will host the para shooting events from 21^st to 25^th March.

Prominent among them will be gold medal winners Harvinder Singh (archery), Dharambir (club throw) and Praveen Kumar (high jump). India finished with a record 29 medals at Paris 2024. Seven of those medals were golds. Twenty-five Khelo India athletes were part of the 84-member Indian contingent at 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 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 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 9-12.

ABOUT KHELO INDIA PARA GAMES

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 1^st edition of Khelo India Para Games, held in December 2023, was organized 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.

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Himanshu Pathak