Khelo India Beach Games a platform to express skills on naturally beautiful surface: Union Sports Minister Mandaviya

New Delhi [India], January 4 : The Ghoghla Beach, awash with the tides of the Arabian Sea, here will transform itself into a sporting paradise with more than 2,100 participants taking part in the second edition of the Khelo India Beach Games.

The Beach Games, organised by the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, will be held between January 5-10 under the technical supervision of the Sports Authority of India and national sports federations, as per a SAI Media press release.

More than 1,100 athletes will compete in eight different sports volleyball, soccer, sepak takraw, kabaddi, pencak silat, Open water swimming, mallakhamb and tug-of-war. The first six will be medal sports, and 32 gold medals will be up for grabs.

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Manipur, Maharashtra and Nagaland finished one, two and three in the medal standings in the first edition of the Games. The top three states finished with an identical number of five golds each, but were separated by the number of silvers won.

"The first Khelo India Beach Games saw a lot of excitement among participants. We are opening up new platforms for athletes to express themselves and enjoy the sport they like to play. This is in keeping with PM Narendra Modi's vision to create a culture of sports so that our youth can become healthy citizens. In 2026, we will see more new Khelo India events. We like to stitch our nation together through sports and spread joy through sporting competition," said the Union minister of youth affairs and sports, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya.

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Dr Mandaviya also added that the Khelo India events are in keeping with the Khelo Bharat Niti. "It will be our endeavour to make sports a mass movement and make it part of the social fabric for upliftment. Events like the Beach Games also serve to tell the world about its natural beauty through sports," he said.

The Blue Flag Ghoghla Beach will host the KIBG 2026 opening ceremony on Monday evening. Shri Praful Patel, the administrator of the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep. The Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Shri Manoj Sinha, will also be present.

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Teams started arriving in sunny Diu since Saturday. Twenty-nine states and Union Territories are taking part this time. On Day 1 on Monday, Khelo India Beach Games 2026 will start with beach kabaddi matches and beach soccer matches. Last year, Haryana dominated kabaddi while in soccer, Kerala men and Odisha women won gold medals.

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