A 141-member contingent, featuring 119 athletes and 22 support staff, would represent three Odisha universities in the 3rd Khelo India University Games 2022, scheduled to be held in four cities of Uttar Pradesh and in New Delhi from May 25 to June 3. This was announced by KIIT University today.

The three Odisha universities are KIIT, Utkal and Sambalpur. The 71-member KIIT squad is the biggest among the three universities, consisting 58 athletes and 13 support staffs. KIIT athletes would compete in rugby (men & women), tennis (men & women), yogasana (men & women), weightlifting (men & women), athletics (men & women) and Rowing (women).

A 65-member Sambalpur squad, comprising 58 athletes and seven support staffs, would compete in athletics (men & women), hockey (men & women) and football (women). Utkal squad is the smallest among the three universities and features three athletes and two support staff. They would compete in athletics (men) and swimming (women).

All the participating Universities have requested DSYS, Govt. of Odisha for providing TA/DA to them as MYAS, Govt. of India is not providing TA/DA to any player participating in KIUG. DSYS, Govt. of Odisha assured to support the players in participating in the KIUG 2022 and wished them good luck to bring more medals for the state.

Well-known athletes in the Odisha contintent are: Vikrant Mallik, Pragyan Prasanti Sahu and Lalu Prasad Bhoi, Swadhin Majhi (all Athletics), Pratyasa Ray (swimming) and Kabir Hans (Tennis). According to a KIIT University press release, Department of Sports & Youth Services, Government of Odisha, has assured to proved TA and DA to the members of the Odisha continteng.
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PHOTO: Athletes and support staff of KIIT University pose before leaving for the Khelo India University Games.