Last year's table-toppers Maharashtra and Haryana will battle for supremacy as the curtain will be raised for the third edition of the Khelo India Youth Games 2020 here at the Sarusarai Sports Complex on Friday.
Maharashtra won a grand total of 228 medals in the last edition and have entered in this edition with a 579-strong contingent. On the other hand, Haryana, the champions of the inaugural edition, has fielded 682 athletes for the games.
Delhi (450), Uttar Pradesh (430), Punjab (390), Tamil Nadu (356) are the other States with more than 300 athletes each.
In this edition of the Khelo India Youth Games, more than 6,500 athletes will be taking part in 20 disciplines. Last year's games had 5,925 athletes.
Asian Games 400m silver medallist Hima Das is set to be the torch-bearer at the opening ceremony. Jharkhand recurve archer Komolika Bari is among the biggest names competing in the games.
Punjab's Sangampreet Bisla, who was part of the Indian compound archery team that won the junior men's team bronze at the World Youth Championships, is confident of retaining the title he won in Pune.
The entries of left-handed Malvika Bansod (Maharashtra), Samiya Imad Farooqui and Pullela Gayatri (Telangana) make for an exciting draw in the girls Under-21 badminton competition.
( With inputs from ANI )