Khelo India University Games (KIUG) 2023 is scheduled to kick off on the 25th of May and will take place in Uttar Pradesh. The four host cities in UP are Lucknow, Varanasi, Gorakhpur and Greater Noida. KIUG 2023 will have 21 sporting events and will be featuring more than 4,000 athletes from 200 universities.
The opening ceremony which will be held in Lucknow will be virtually attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The closing ceremony will take place in Varanasi. Narendra Modi will be the chief guest for the opening ceremony, he will be attending the ceremony by joining virtually. The opening ceremony will be held at Babu Banarsi Das University. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nisith Pramanik will also be in attendance for the grand opening ceremony.
KIUG 2023 will be the third edition of the games. In the first edition in 2020, Panjab University of Chandigarh emerged victorious while Jain University was the most successful university in KIUG 2021 held in Bengaluru.
With seven gold and two silver medals, Jain University swimmer Siva Sridhar took home the most individual medals at KIUG 2021. Leading Indian athletes competed in KIUG 2021, including Olympians Srihari Nataraj, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, and Divyansh Singh Panwar.
People criticised the move for the choice of cities. People criticised the move by the government to ignore Kanpur.
Why not kanpur when it's a bigger city in all terms with respect to Gorakhpur and Varanasi
— #Bharat (@KanpurMahanagar) May 20, 2023
According to a media handout, to increase the tourism of UP “All participating sportspersons would be taken on a tour of the city where they would be playing the games. This would also help in the branding of the state’s tourism. All those players who arrive here would also visit Gorakhnath Mutt and temple, a famous Nath Panth site. They would also be taken to Kushinagar, a popular destination for Buddhist pilgrims.”
According to a government official, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stated that the Games should depict the state’s evolving identity, as well as its history, culture, and popular tourism destinations. He stated that the Games should showcase the state as well as host the competitions. Navneet Sehgal, additional chief secretary for sports, said that the rowing competition will be held in Gorakhpur from May 27 to May 31.
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