West Bengal hopes to make a bigger splash in KIYG 2021

West Bengal is aiming to make a bigger splash at the Khelo India Youth Games 2021, not only in swimming which has been their forte, but in a few other disciplines as well.

The Eastern state has been steadily improving, recording continuous improvement in their rankings, the number of golds and also their overall tally. They moved in rankings from 10th to 8th position over three successive editions and their overall medal tally improved from 15 in 2018 to 53 in 2020, including 19 golds.

"We have worked hard and the players are coming straight from the camps. We have improved a lot and hope to get more medals this time. We will also strive to improve our ranking," said chef de mission Shambhu Seth, who is also a senior official of the Wushu Association of West Bengal.

West Bengal will be sending a contingent of 185 athletes, among whom are 45 swimmers, and 47 support staff. They will take part in 16 disciplines (including three indigenous ones thang-ta, yogasana and kho kho) and hope to generate good returns in swimming, gymnastics, table tennis, which have been their traditional strengths, and football (boys). The state is also fielding teams in handball, volleyball (girls) and kho-kho (boys and girls).

Swadesh Mondal, who has been making waves in the pool over the previous editions and hopes to compete in the 2024 Olympics, will lead the Bengal charge. He will feature in five events, the 50, 100 and 200 m breaststroke, and the 200 and 400m individual medley.

"We are hoping for at least 12 golds in swimming," Seth said. He sees 19-year-old shooter Srinjoy Datta (10 m rifle) as a gold medal prospect.

( With inputs from ANI )

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