The Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is set to organize the Khelo India Dus Ka Dum event from March 10 to 31, as a celebration for the International Women's Day 2023.
This is the first time that such a sports initiative is being taken to celebrate the international event and the Union Ministry has sanctioned a total budget of Rs 50 Lakh for the tournament.
Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur shall be in attendance at the opening ceremony of the event on March 10 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the national capital.
The tournament features 10 sports that will be held across 10 cities in the country.
Close to 15000 women athletes are set to participate.
Top women athletes in the country including Indian hockey star Rani Rampal, boxer Nikhat Zareen and more have posted videos cheering for the participants and wishing them the best. Some prominent athletes will also be joining the program in selected locations while women achievers will also be felicitated.
The sports disciplines that will be a part of the event include Kho Kho, Wushu, Wrestling, Fencing, Archery, Swimming, Basketball, Judo, Athletics and Yogasana.
The main purpose of organising the tournament is to provide a platform to the women athletes who were unable to participate in national/state level competitions and also ensure that competitive sports reach untapped geographical areas.
Kho Kho will be organised in Lucknow, Patiala, Punjab, Delhi, (Una/Solan) Himachal Pradesh, Faridabad, Ajmer, (Mumbai/Pune) Maharashtra, (Chennai) Tamil Nadu, (Hyderabad) Telangana, Andhra Pradesh (venue will be conveyed later).
Wushu - Ranchi, Panchkula, Kokrajhar, Panna, Pune, Nizamabad, Bagalkote, Srinagar, Dehradun, Jaipur
Wrestling - Delhi, Mirchpur, Indore, Chennai, Trivandrum, Pune, Bilaspur, Gonda, Amritsar
Fencing - Patiala, Aurangabad, Guwahati, Imphal, Gujarat, Pune, Jammu, MP, Amritsar, Kerala.
Archery - NCOE Kolkata, NCOE Sonepat, NCOE Guwahati, NCOE Manipur, STC Raipur, STC Hyderabad, Amrawati/Pune, Jamshedpur Tata Archery Academy, Jabalpur MP Archery Academy, Sanskardham Sports Academy Gujarat.
Swimming - Delhi, Pune, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Kolkata.
Basketball - Kochi, Bengaluru, Ludhiana, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bhavnagar, Cuttack, Shillong, Indore.
Judo -Delhi, Jammu, Ranchi (Jharkhand), Sonepat, Kochi, Mumbai, Jalandhar, Warangal, Haridwar, Imphal, Mokokchung, Chandigarh, Aizwal.
Athletics - Trivandrum, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bhopal, Lucknow, New Delhi, Guwahati, Ranchi.
Yoga - Chennai, Bangalore, Ranchi, Kolkata, Delhi, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Karnal (Haryana), Ahmedabad, Pune.
( With inputs from ANI )
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