Khelo India Youth Games from January 9 (Third Lead)

Building on the roaring success of the inaugural edition of the Khelo India School Games, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, along with Star Sports, kick-started the countdown to "Khelo India Youth Games, Maharashtra 2019" with an appeal to encourage India to play more- with the evocative #5MinuteAur' campaign.

The campaign has a strong call to action, taking the Khelo India movement forward, featuring Manu Bhaker, Jeremy Lalrinnunga, Saurabh Chaudhary, Lakshya Sen, Esha Singh, Tababi Devi, Srihari Natraj and champions Mary Kom and Sushil Kumar, among others, bringing childhood playground memories to life.

The #5MinuteAur campaign created this year has a simple insight: everyone is born with an inherent instinct to play -- kids and adults alike.

Scheduled to take place at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune between January 9 and 20, 2019, Khelo India Youth Games, Maharashtra 2019 will see over 10,000 participants from 29 states and seven Union Territories. The games will bring to life by over 6,200 athletes, 1,800 technical officials, 1,000 volunteers and 1,000 personnel working behind the scenes.

Commenting on the development, Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said: "The success of Khelo India School Games is a testimony to the hunger and multitude of sporting talent in India. Buoyed by the terrific response for Khelo India School Games and with an aim to increase participation in sports across all age groups, we have not just added two sports this year but the games will also be played under two age categories U-17 and U-21 to allow even more enthusiasts to participate and flourish.

"The #5MinuteAur campaign for the Khelo India Youth Games 2019 to be hosted in Pune, Maharashtra is a reflection of the immense strides we've made and the journey that lies in front of us to make India a truly sporting nation. We hope it will inspire India to work towards incorporating sports as a way of life."

To support the Khelo India initiative by the Sports Ministry, Star India has doubled the level of promotion and broadcast coverage for Khelo India Youth Games, Maharashtra 2019. The coverage of the upcoming season will include live telecast in five languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and English) and telecast of all 18 disciplines for both age groups.

Speaking on the youth games, Sanjay Gupta, Managing Director, Star India said: "The first edition of Khelo India exceeded expectations and instilled an aspiration for sports amongst the youth in India and now, with #5MinuteAur campaign, we are aiming to trigger more pro-sports conversations to make India adopt sports as a way of life."

--IANS

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