Sushil to play exhibition tie to promote Gramin Khel Mahotsav

Double Olympic medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar is set to play an exhibition match to promote rural sports during the Gramin Khel Mahotsav scheduled to be held here from March 25 to 31.
"Sushil Kumar will be playing a wrestling match on March 28 to promote the sport so that more people come forward to participate and watch sports. His presence will make the event interesting and give impetus to the sports festival," Sports Minister Vijay Goel told reporters.
"Renowned wrestlers Geeta Phogat, Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil Kumar are being invited to participate in demonstration matches to be held on 28th March, 2017. These Wrestlers will be declared as Brand Ambassadors and suitable token money will be given to them," he added.

The Delhi Gramin Khel Mahotsav 2017 is being organised by Sports Ministry in association with Delhi Government from March 25 to 31 to tap talent from rural areas of NCT of Delhi to participate in a multi-sport championship.
"A need has been felt to deepen the sports culture among the rural youth. The festival will help involve rural youth in large number to participate in popular sports and will encourage them to achieve excellence and adopt healthy life style," Goel said.
The Sport Minister said there will be a 11-km Gramin Mini Marathon which will start from Jaunti village and culminate at Bawana stadium.

There will be five sports discipline -- athletics, kabaddi, wrestling, volleyball and kho-kho -- and anyone from the rural area can participate in these games. There will also be a 'tug of war' competition which will be a team championship for both men and women and also a 100m Matka Race for women.

There will also be a 200m 'race with headgear' where male participants of the age of 65 years and above can participate.
"Five blocks namely, Alipur, Nangloi, Najafgarh, Mehrauli and Shadara will participate in the games. The qualifying matches will be organised in the respective blocks. The inter-block competitions will be held in Bawana and finals will be conducted at Indira Gandhi Stadium," he said.

Goel also said that all the members of the Indian blind cricket team which won the Blind T20 Cricket World Cup will be given Rs 5 lakh each. This was after Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) refused to accept earlier cash prize of Rs 10 lakh for the entire team announced by the Ministry.
"The Indian blind cricket team became the world champion after beating Pakistan in the final. They have made India proud and we have decided to award a prize money of Rs 5 lakhs to each of the players of the team," Goel said.