National Games – A transit point to excel at a global arena 

Tokyo Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra made his National Games debut in the previous edition of the Games held in Kerala in 2015. Then teenager and with hardly any exposure of competing at the national circuit, Neeraj finished fifth in Kerala Games. 

After that he went on to become the junior world champion, Asian and Commonwealth Games gold medal winner and the country's first to win gold in athletics in Tokyo Olympics. 

Returned from bagging the top honours in Diamond League Final, Neeraj is giving a miss to the 36th edition of the National Games. 

But in Ahmedabad, during the opening of the National Games 2022, he will be sharing a stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the inauguration of India’s biggest multi-discipline sporting extravaganza. 

The National Games is serving as a transit point for the Indian sportspersons to excel at the international arena. 

Boxing great late Dingko Singh competed in the 1997 Bangalore National Games before becoming toast of the nation by clinching gold in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games.    

Boxing star Vijender Singh, then already a winner of Asian and Commonwealth Games medals, competed in the 2007 edition of the games held in Guwahati. After that he went on to become the country's first boxer to win an Olympic medal. He bagged bronze in 2008 Beijing Olympics. 

“I got a job in Indian Railways at quite a young age and because of the departmental commitment, I had to represent the Railways in the national championships. To be eligible for Haryana’s highest sporting honour, Bhim Award, a player has to represent the state at the national-level event. For the players recruited in the central departments, except for the defence services, National Games is the only opportunity where they could represent their home state. So, to meet the eligibility criteria, I competed in the 2007 Guwahati Games,” says Vijender Singh. 

Majority of India’s top sportspersons must have competed in the National Games during their initial years of stepping into the national circuit. 

Let the Games begin and we will get more future sporting stars.