PANAJI
Goacould manage to win just a single medal at the seventh Khelo IndiaYouth Games 2025 held in Bihar from May 4 to 15.
VidhyaatGourish Lotlikar, who secured a bronze in junior boys category intraditional yogasana event, was the only medal winner from Goa.
Evenstates and union territories such as Chandigarh – 17 medals (6gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze), Arunachal Pradesh – 3 medals ( 1 goldand 2 bronze), Mizoram – 2 medals ( 1 gold and 1 bronze) andPuducherry – 2 medals ( 1 silver and 1 bronze) which have muchlesser population than Goa finished ahead in medal tally.
Evenduring last two editions held in Tamil Nadu (2024) and Madhya Pradesh(2023), Goa won just a solitary bronze medal to finish at 31stposition.
Infact, five of the last six medals won by Goa at the Khelo India YouthGames since 2022 have come from Yogasana. Yogasana is an indigenoussport and is not recognized as an Olympic sport.
Inrecent times, there has been hardly any improvement in Goa’sperformance at the Khelo India Youth Games.
Infact, it has been on a decline. The state could win mere threemedals (3 bronze) at the last three editions as compared to 40 medals(3 gold, 17 silver and 20 bronze) it won in the first four editions.
Overall,it was a poor performance by the state.
Afterall, a 78-member Goan contingent comprising of 60 athletes hadparticipated in 14 disciplines in these games. In fact, this was thebiggest ever Goan squad in the history of Khelo India Youth Games.So, there were lot of hopes and expectation this time around. But, inthe end, it proved to be a huge disappointment.
Goahad taken part in athletics, badminton, cycling, gatka, gymnastics,judo, kabaddi, kallariyapayattu, mallakhamb, shooting, sepak takraw,swimming, table tennis, and yogasana.
But,only one of them could manage to win a medal. The rest of the squadreturned home empty handed.
Thevarious state associations are to be blamed for Goa’s disastrousperformance. They need to be held accountable. Also, lack of qualitycoaches in Goa is another reason for poor show.
Sportssuch as swimming and boxing in which Goa has won 29 and 5 medalsrespectively in the past has been on a decline. The state has beenstruggling to win medals in these sports at the Khelo India YouthGames since 2022.
Goahad to depend on an indigenous sport like Yogasana to win medalssince 2022. This does not augur well for a state which boosts ofhaving successfully hosted 2023 National Games.
Also,the sports infrastructure in Goa is pretty good as compared to manyother states in the country. But, the state’s inability to groomand nurture talent is poor. This is clearly reflected in the state’sperformance at the national level.
