Srinagar, Aug 25 (UNI) Sports Authority of India (SAI) has said that the Khelo India water sports festival 2025, that was organised here from August 21-23 will be upgraded to a full fledged Khelo India Water Games next year.
In an exclusive interview with UNI,
Mayank Srivastava, Deputy director general, sports authority of India said
“We labled it a festival only for this edition, next time we are going to upgrade it to a full fledged Khelo India Water Games. Which means the the investment would be higher, and more events are likely to be included.”
Srivastava said that Khelo games are not a substitute for national games but aim to provide an opportunity to young talent to compete in a competition with world class technical standards
“Facilities and technical standards for judging the games here at the Khelo India water sports festival are at par with Asian games, even food and lodging are at par with international level. Khelo India games are no rival for national games, it provides a platform for young players with international standards”
Regarding Kashmir region, he felt it has a lot of potential to grow into a sporting powerhouse
“Kashmir has a lot of potential in sports, a lot of Wushu players, including international medal winners are from here, football is very popular here, so are martial arts, the cricket team is doing well in Ranji Trophy.
With the kind of body structure they have, I feel in a few years they are going to do really well in athletics also in a few years”
The three day Khelo India Water Sports Festival was organised at the iconic Dal Lake and featured six sports including rowing, canoeing, kayaking, water skiing, shikara race, and dragon boat race.
Thirty-six states and union Territories took part in the festival, which was an Open age category meet.
