Odisha CM Attends Closing Ceremony of Khelo India University Games 2020

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik attended the closing ceremony of the first edition of the Khelo India University Games 2020 here today.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said, “I am extremely glad that KIUG 2020 has been organised in such a smooth manner. I am sure it will help young athletes in achieving great heights for the country,”

Naveen also expressed satisfaction in the way Odisha organised the Games.

The Khelo India University Games 2020 concluded here on Sunday with a simple but impressive closing ceremony, but not before Panjab University pipped Savitribai Phule Pune University with a last-gasp effort to be crowned champions of the inauguration edition.

Trailing by just one gold on the penultimate day, Panjab snatched the last two gold in boxing to topple Pune University, who could only manage one athletics gold on the final day.

The two dominant universities ended up with 17 gold each. But Panjab University, with a total tally of 46 medals (19 silver, 10 bronze) as against Pune’s 37 (11 silver, 9 bronze), walked away with the coveted trophy. The second runners up trophy went to Punjabi University, Patiala with a total medal tally of 33 (13g, 6s, 14b).

Attended by a host of dignitaries, led by Odisha Chief Minister, Union Minister of Youth Affair and Sports Kiren Rijiju, IOA President Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra, Sports Minister of Odisha Tusharkanti Behera and Secretary General, AIU, Dr. Pankaj Mittal the closing ceremony fittingly celebrated the athletes and their triumphant universities.

“The first edition of the KIUG has been truly successful. All the participants have given their best and many of them have shown great potential,” Kiren Rijuju said.

“Our aim now is to organise the Khelo India University Games regularly and make it, along with the Youth Games, the platform that paves the way for our future Olympic medallists. Our aim is to get into the top 10 in the medals tally after the 2028 Olympics,” he added.

Host university KIIT’s founder Shri Achyuta Samanta thanked everybody involved in making the Games a success and pointed out that they had less than two months to put everything in place and pull it off.

As many as 64 universities claimed at least one gold while 113 institutions went home with at least one medal after 10 days of competition. Swimmers Sadhvi Dhuri (Savitribai Phule Pune University) and Siddhant Sejwal (Panjab University) were the most successful athletes at the Games with five gold each.

Over 4,000 athletes from 100 universities across the country have participated in the Games.