The Minister of State for Youth & Sports (I/C), Harsh Sanghvi, announced that Khel Mahakumbh 3.0 will be held from December 5, 2024, to March 31, 2025, with the aim of encouraging the youth of the state to build careers in sports and make Gujarat proud on national and international platforms.
The Minister further added that Khel Mahakumbh 3.0 will feature 39 sports, including 32 Olympic sports, 7 emerging sports, and 25 para sports.
Harsh Sanghvi highlighted that Khel Mahakumbh was first started by the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2010, with the goal of increasing awareness of sports among the youth, promoting physical fitness, and developing a sports culture in Gujarat. Khel Mahakumbh started with 16 sports in 2010 and has expanded to 39 sports in 2023-24. In the 2023-24 edition of Khel Mahakumbh 2.0, a record-breaking 6.6 million participants from Gujarat had registered.
The Minister also mentioned the introduction of talent identification, new changes in Khel Mahakumbh 3.0, awards for winning players, and special programs for disabled athletes this year. Khel Mahakumbh 3.0 will be held from December 5, 2024, to March 31, 2025, across seven different age categories: Under-9, Under-11, Under-14, Under-17, Open category, 40+, and 60+ years.
He added that players wishing to participate can register online from December 5 to December 25, 2024. The inauguration ceremony will be held on January 4 or 5, 2025. School and rural-level competitions in athletics, kabaddi, kho-kho, tug-of-war, and volleyball will take place from January 1 to 3, 2025.
At the taluka level, events for athletics, chess, yoga, kabaddi, kho-kho, tug-of-war, and volleyball will be held from January 6 to 12, 2025. District-level events will include archery, artistic skating, athletics, badminton, chess, judo, karate, lawn tennis, skating, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, wrestling, yoga, basketball, football, handball, hockey, kabaddi, kho-kho, rugby, shooting, tug-of-war, and volleyball, to be held from January 15 to 31, 2025.
At the zonal level, sports such as basketball, football, handball, hockey, kabaddi, kho-kho, shooting, tug-of-war, and volleyball will be held from February 1 to 13, 2025. State-level competitions will be organized in two phases: Phase 1 from February 15 to 24, 2025, and Phase 2 from March 15 to 31, 2025. These will include archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, chess, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, horse riding, judo, karate, lawn tennis, malakhamb, shooting, skating, artistic skating, soft tennis, sports climbing, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, woodball, weightlifting, wrestling, yoga, basketball, beach volleyball, beach handball, football, handball, hockey, kabaddi, kho-kho, roll ball, rugby, shooting, sepak takraw, tug-of-war, and volleyball.
This year, the Special Khel Mahakumbh will include categories for athletes with physical disabilities, including those in athletics, cricket, volleyball, and swimming; mentally disabled athletes in athletics, cycling, bocce, volleyball, basketball, swimming, roller skating, handball, table tennis, badminton, cricket, football, and softball; blind athletes in athletics, cricket, and chess; hearing-impaired athletes in athletics, cricket, chess, and volleyball; and athletes with cerebral palsy in athletics.
Sanghvi expressed confidence that Khel Mahakumbh has played a significant role in helping Gujarat’s athletes and para-athletes gain recognition at national and international levels. He believes that this initiative will help athletes from remote areas of Gujarat progress in their sports and make the state proud on the global stage.