BENGALURU: The Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES) and the Karnataka Olympic Association (KOA) will organise the fifth Mini Karnataka Games here from November 14 to 21.
KOA president Dr K Govindaraj told reporters on Thursday that more than 5,000 sportspersons from the state will participate in the under 14 category.
There will be athletics, archery, basketball, badminton, boxing, cycling, fencing, kayaking and canoeing, golf, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, kho-kho, kabaddi, lawn tennis, volleyball, netball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, horse riding, rifle shooting, wrestling, wushu, and weightlifting events. Each sport association from the state will send its top eight players or teams in the respective event.
He said handball, netball, and kho-kho will be held at the DYES Stadium in Vidyanagar, rifle shooting at the Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Southern Centre, cycling on NICE Road, football matches at the Karnataka State Football Association Stadium, gymnastics at the Gopalan Sports Centre in Whitefield, swimming at the Ulsoor Swimming Pool, hockey at the KM Cariappa Hockey Stadium in Shantinagar, golf at the Bangalore Golf Club, and horse riding at the Embassy International Riding School. The rest will be held at Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
“The competition will be a huge boost to the participants. Our goal is to prepare them for the upcoming international competitions such as the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and the Olympics. They will be Karnataka’s assets at these tournaments in the next five years,” Dr Govindaraj said.