First Khelo India Water Sports Festival To Begin At Kashmir's Dal Lake Today
This water sports carnival will be the second Khelo India event in J&K after the Khelo India Winter Games held in Gulmarg.
Published : August 21, 2025 at 7:51 AM IST
Srinagar: The iconic Dal Lake in Jammu and Kashmir's capital Srinagar is set to host the country's top water sports athletes as they compete for 24 gold medals in the inaugural Khelo India Water Sports Festival (KIWSF) 2025, starting today (Aug. 21).
More than 400 athletes from 36 states and Union Territories will vie for top honours in rowing, canoeing, and kayaking during the three-day event. This marks the second Khelo India event in Jammu and Kashmir, following the Khelo India Winter Games in Gulmarg.
According to a press release by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the KIWSF is the first consolidated Open-age category championship where all 14 Olympic kayaking and canoeing events and 10 Olympic rowing events will be contested. Three demonstration events, water skiing, shikhara boat spring, and a dragon boat race, will also be featured.
Among the states with large contingents are Madhya Pradesh with 44 athletes, Haryana (37), Odisha (34), and Kerala (33). "The course has been prepared keeping all international specifications in mind, and we are all set to go. It will be good to see how the states compete and perform," said competition manager Bilquis Mir, a former World Cup canoeist and an Olympic judge.
The festival is a new addition to the Khelo India calendar, following the Khelo India Beach Games held in Diu in May. Both events are part of the Khelo Bharat Niti, aimed at promoting sports and attracting tourism.
The field includes Olympic participants, with Arjun Lal Jat, an Army rower representing Delhi, among the main attractions. Jat, 28, competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won a silver medal in the lightweight double sculls at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Qualifiers for the festival were determined by athletes' performance in previous national championships. The top 15 in singles and doubles and the top eight in fours for kayaking and canoeing, were selected from a November competition in Tehri, Uttarakhand. The top eight rowers were chosen from the nationals held in Bhopal in March.
The competition will feature a near-equal representation of genders, with 202 of the 409 competing athletes being female. Three gold medals in kayaking and canoeing are scheduled to be decided on the first day, with all 10 rowing finals slated for the final day on August 23.
The opening ceremony, set for Thursday evening, is expected to be attended by Union Minister of State Raksha Khadse, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and Cabinet Minister Satish Sharma.
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