Khelo MP Youth Games-2025: For the first time in the country, Sports Department and all sports associations will jointly organize the event.

Bhopal : Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Vishwas Kailash Sarang addressed a press conference on Sunday regarding the organization of “Khelo MP Youth Games – 2025 – Olympics of Madhya Pradesh”. Minister Sarang said that this will be the first time in the country, in which all the recognized sports associations along with the Sports Department will conduct competitions in a coordinated manner.

Minister Sarang informed that “Khelo MP Youth Games-2025 – Olympics of Madhya Pradesh” will be held from 10 January to 31 January 2026. The selection process will start from the block level, in which block level competitions will be held from 10 to 15 January, district level from 16 to 20 January, division level from 21 to 25 January and state level competitions will be held from 28 to 31 January 2026.

Minister Sarang said that talented players participating in Youth Games will be given priority in the selection of the state team in future. Coordination officers have also been appointed by the department to ensure better coordination with sports associations. With the aim of increasing public participation in sports, sports lovers will be invited to the opening and closing ceremonies and representatives of national sports federations will also be invited as guests.

Minister Sarang said that a total of 27 sports competitions will be organized in Khelo MP Youth Games-2025. The effort will be to organize competitions at the same places where sports have tradition and popularity. State level competitions are proposed to be organized in Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Jabalpur, Rewa, Shivpuri, Gwalior, Sagar and Narmadapuram.

Positive environment for sports created under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi

Minister Sarang said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a positive environment has been created in the country for sports and players, as a result of which the country’s name has been registered in golden letters on the world stage through sports. He said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav, we are continuously working to upgrade sports, players and sports grounds in the state. The Sports Department is organizing various programs especially to attract the youth towards sports.

Traditional sports included for the first time

Minister Sarang said that for the first time, traditional sports have also been included in “Khelo MP Youth Games – 2025 – Olympics of Madhya Pradesh”. This time pittu and tug of war have also been included in the youth games. He also said that considering the popularity of cricket among the youth, this time women’s and men’s cricket will also be a part of the Youth Games.

Coordination done with all sports associations

Minister Sarang said that earlier youth games and sports associations were organized separately. The selection process of both used to be separate, but for the first time the sports department and all the sports associations are jointly organizing the Youth Games. This will expand the event and players will also get an opportunity to compete in youth games. He said that the format of Youth Games has been prepared in coordination with all the sports associations. So that players can get opportunities in the state level team.

Selection process will be done from block level

Minister Sarang said that in this event the selection process will be started from the block level. At the district level, 313 development blocks of the state will participate and at the state level, teams from 08 divisions of Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur, Rewa, Sagar, Ujjain and Shahdol state will participate.

Minister Sarang said that competitions of 14 sports will be organized in three phases (block, district and state level), which include athletics, badminton, boxing, hockey, judo, kho-kho, mallakhamb, swimming, weightlifting, wrestling, table tennis, yoga, tennis and chess.

There will be competitions in 7 sports – basketball, football, kabaddi, volleyball, cricket, traditional games pittu and tug of war – in four stages (block, district, division and state level). Apart from this, competitions of 6 sports – Taekwondo, Fencing, Rowing, Kayaking-Canoeing, Shooting and Archery will be organized directly at the state level.

Various sports events will be organized in these districts

Athletics, fencing, men’s cricket, kayaking-canoeing, rowing, swimming, shooting, men’s hockey and boxing competitions will be organized in Bhopal. Competitions will be organized in basketball, weightlifting, table tennis and tennis in Indore, women’s cricket in Shivpuri, women’s hockey, pittu and badminton in Gwalior, Mallakhamb, Yogasan, Kabaddi, tug of war and wrestling in Ujjain, Kho-Kho and Archery in Jabalpur, football and judo in Rewa, taekwondo and chess in Narmadapuram and volleyball in Sagar.

Minister Sarang said that Khelo MP Youth Games – 2025 will provide a powerful platform to the budding players of the state to showcase their talent and will play an important role in taking MP to new heights in the field of sports.