Esports To Be A Demonstration Sport At Khelo India Youth Games
Last Updated:
Esports will be an official medal sport at the 2026 Asian Games, and the first-ever Olympic Esports Games is scheduled to start in 2027.
Esports has been added to the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) for the first time as a demonstration event featuring BGMI, Street Fighter 6, Chess, and eFootball, a development that industry experts believe will help establish it as a mainstream sport.
Esports will be an official medal sport at the 2026 Asian Games, and the first-ever Olympic Esports Games is scheduled to start in 2027.
Before its inclusion in KIYG 2025, hosts Bihar had organised the Bihar State Esports Open Championship and the Bihar Inter School and College Esports Championship over the past year.
States like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Nagaland have also taken proactive steps to support and formalise grassroots esports programs.
Esports competitions will be beld at the Patliputra Sports Complex on May 6 and 7, featuring popular titles such as Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), Street Fighter 6, Chess, and eFootball on both mobile and console.
While BGMI remains the most popular esports title in India, Chess stands out as a particularly noteworthy addition to KIYG 2025.
Once considered a purely traditional sport, it has increasingly found a home in the esports world, most recently as part of the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2025, which boasts a prize pool of USD 1.5 million (Rs 12.6 crore) for the title.
'The inclusion of titles like BGMI, Street Fighter 6, Chess, and eFootball in the Khelo India Youth Games 2025 signals a big step forward for grassroots esports in India," says Akshat Rathee, Co-founder and Managing Director of NODWIN Gaming.
'It's encouraging to see esports standing shoulder to shoulder with traditional sports, and the addition of Chess – bridging classical and digital strategy shows how in tune this initiative is with global trends. But this isn't just about tournaments.
'It's about creating real opportunities to discover talent from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, places that have been overlooked for too long, thus building the foundation for a future where Indian gamers don't just participate, they dominate on the world stage."
First Published:
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
8 hours ago
- The Hindu
Shiny Wilson bids farewell to FCI
Shiny Wilson, who was the first woman flag bearer at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the first Indian woman athlete to reach the women's 800 m semifinals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, retired from service after four decades. The four-time Olympian was serving as general manager Food Corporation of India (FCI) located in Nungambakkam. The farewell function was an emotional event for Shiny. It was attended by Ashutosh Agnihotri, chairman and managing director FCI; and Jacintha Lazarus, executive director (south), FCI. Her husband, Wilson Cherian, an international swimmer, who retired from ICF after 43 years of service, was also present. Known for her simplicity and reticent nature, Shiny was held in high esteem at FCI, and her farewell function proved why she is a respected personality. At her acceptance speech, Shiny recalled her childhood days and her Olympics experience. Shiny has taken part in three Asian Games, six Asian championships and seven SAF Games. She reminisced about her 41 years and three months of service in FCI. 'I am thankful to have put a long and satisfying service at FCI,' she said while praising FCI's sports scholarship given to sportspersons and its consistency in recruiting sportspersons. Shiny's love, passion and commitment to athletics is astonishing. After a few months after giving birth to her first daughter in October 1990, she started to train in Bengaluru. 'When my daughter was nine months old, I became a National champion in 800m and within a year, I won the Asian championships 400m gold and 800m silver,' said Shiny, a resident of Gill Nagar in Choolaimedu. Shiny came to Chennai from Kerala in 1992-93 and went to represent Tamil Nadu in numerous National competitions. After she joined FCI in 1984, she was one of those instrumental in fast-tracking the scholarships initiative of the organisation that has still today helped promising sportspersons get the much-needed stipend. Shiny continued to perform and shine in global and Asian events while being an employee of FCI. So much so that she even used to take part in all athletics events organised by FCI at the peak of her athletic prowess. With her time at FCI coming to an end, Shiny will definitely enjoy her free time while putting her heart and soul into her many roles which includes selector of the Indian team and a nominated member of the Asian Athletic Commission.
The Hindu
9 hours ago
- The Hindu
Indonesia Open: Chou to meet Antonsen in final as top two seeds exit
Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan beat world number one Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-16, 23-21 in the Indonesia Open in Jakarta on Saturday to set up a final against Anders Antonsen, who defeated defending champion Shi Yuqi. Second seed Vitidsarn shot out of the blocks in both games and racked up 5-1 leads, but the 35-year-old Chou showed great resilience, fighting back to secure a spot in his first final since last month's Taipei Open. China's Shi began his semifinal strongly, taking the first game 21-9, while third-seeded Antonsen was much more competitive in the second game and pounced on a string of errors from the top seed to wrest control of the match. ALSO READ: I'm on right track, not really far away from my best: Sindhu Shi had the lead early in the tight third game, but Antonsen rose to the challenge to win 9-21, 21-18, 21-19 -- his first victory over the two-time Asian Games gold medallist since January 2024. In the women's draw, top seed An Se-young of South Korea faced third-seeded Akane Yamaguchi, the second time the pair had met in the semifinals of a Super 1000 tournament this year. Much like their meeting at the All England Open in March, reigning Olympic champion An held off her Japanese opponent to win 21-18, 21-17 and secure a spot in the Indonesia Open final for a third time in her career. An will come up against Wang Zhiyi in Sunday's final after the Chinese world number two beat compatriot Han Yue 21-12, 21-13 in 39 minutes.
The Print
9 hours ago
- The Print
India's archery hopes crash in Antalya debacle; Simranjeet shines in rare spark
The third leg in Antalya saw both recurve and compound archers flop spectacularly, with not a single podium finish, even in their traditionally strong compound category. The high of Shanghai last month, where India stood second on the medal tally with two gold, one silver and four bronze medals, now seems like a distant past. Antalya (Turkey), Jun 7 (PTI) Indian archery endured a forgettable outing at Stage 3 of the World Cup here on Saturday, returning empty-handed in a performance that raised serious questions over team selection, preparation and mental fortitude, especially with the Asian Games just a year away. A day after India's compound archers crashed out in both individual and team events, the recurve results were equally dismal, with seasoned names like four-time Olympians Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai also failing to reach the medal rounds. The only fight came from Simranjeet Kaur, who shocked everyone by stretching Korean Olympic gold medallist An San to a shoot-off in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Simranjeet, who barely made the cut at 54th with the third-lowest qualification score, was on the verge of a historic win, leading 5-3 and needing just a point to seal it against Korean star An San. But, as has often been the case with Indian archers, nerves took over in the decider. A poor fifth set saw her shoot a 5 and an 8, allowing An San to force a shoot-off. The Korean nailed an 11 under the new scoring system, while Simranjeet faltered with an 8, losing 5-6 (29-28, 24-29, 27-24, 27-27, 23-29) (8-11). Her second set, where she landed an arrow in the blue ring (6), also proved costly. An San, meanwhile, defeated Indian star Deepika three times in a row. The South Korean had earlier ousted the Indian star in the second round with a 6-0 rout (29-30, 27-28, 28-30) dashing her hope for a successive medal. Deepika had bagged a bronze in Shanghai last month. Deepika, the former world number 1, continues to falter against elite opponents and has failed to learn from repeated mistakes, particularly against the dominant Koreans. Ankita Bhakat, who was India's best archer in qualification at 32nd, exited in the opening round, losing 2-6 (27-26, 26-28, 29-30, 28-29) to Dunya Yenhihayat — another lead squandered after going up 2-0. Men fared no better =========== Former youth world champion and Shanghai bronze medallist Parth Salunkhe suffered a shock first-round exit to Lu Shuai of China 2-6 (28-29, 25-28, 28-25, 27-30), while Rai, at 41, showed little justification for his selection as he went down 2-6 to Germany's Mathias Kramer (28-30, 29-28, 27-31, 29-32). Another seasoned campaigner Atanu Das, after leading 4-2, surrendered meekly to world no. 1 Brady Ellison 4-6 (28-27, 30-31, 31-30, 30-31, 27-30) from being 4-2 up. Dhiraj Bommadevara, India's top qualifier with 13th rank, also threw away a 4-2 lead to lose 4-6 (30-30, 30-30, 31-30, 28-29, 28-30) to Chinese Taipei's Tang Chin-Chun. With this, India's campaign in Antalya came to an end without a medal. The closest the team came to a podium finish was in the recurve men's and compound women's team events, but both units lost their respective bronze medal matches. Compound heartbreak ============= The compound women's team had lost 238-239 to the USA by a single point. The recurve men's team was completely outplayed 1-5 by France. The compound men's team, once considered among the best in the world, crashed out in the very first round. The compound mixed team also couldn't find synergy and exited in the quarterfinals, exposing their downward spiral. In the recurve mixed team, things were worse as they couldn't even make it past the opening round. The recurve women's team, after a promising start, folded in the quarterfinals. In the individual compound category, Rishabh Yadav and Madhura Dhamangaonkar were the only bright spots, both reaching the quarterfinals before bowing out. For India, the bigger concern lies in the alarming dip in form of top-ranked compound archers Abhishek Verma and Jyothi Surekha Vennam. World no. 3 Jyothi, a consistent podium finisher until 2023, crashed out in the second round of 32, extending her medal drought beyond a year. Her last medal came in April 2023 — a gold at the Shanghai World Cup. Since then, it's been a downward spiral for the Asian Games gold medallist and world championship silver medallist. Two-time Asian Games silver medallist Verma was eliminated in the round of 16 by teammate Rishabh Yadav. Verma hasn't won a medal since June 2023 when he had won a gold in Medellin. Selections sans vision ============== Questions will be asked on the team selection especially persisting with a Rai, who has shown little firepower in high-pressure events. Deepika too continues to choke against elite rivals, particularly Koreans. With younger archers like Simranjeet showing grit and fresh form, India's archery program needs a hard reboot — starting with braver selection policies and urgent mental conditioning before it's too late. With the Asian Games just over a year away and the LA Olympics looming next, India's archery system must introspect. Worrying trend =========== Recurve archery remains stuck in a cycle of promise and heartbreak, while India's dominance in compound is fading — a worrying sign with the discipline set to debut at the LA 2028 Olympics as a mixed team event. Ironically, South Korea — a recurve powerhouse with 43 Olympic medals — is now rising fast in compound as well. At Antalya, they won silver in women's team and bronze in men's, underlining their progress. Han Seungyeon, who topped qualifying, is also in line for her maiden World Cup gold. PTI TAP ATK This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
