KIIT and KISS win big at the inaugural Khelo India Women’s Rugby League held in Puri

Bhubaneswar : KIIT beat Future Star Sports Academy in the Senior Women’s final (score) at the recently concluded Khelo India Women’s Rugby League. Earlier in the event, KISS earned double the pride as they won both the U/18 and U/14 categories.

Under the aegis of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Sports Authority of India, Rugby India shall conduct the seventh leg of the inaugural edition of the Khelo India Women’s Rugby League in Puri, Odisha, spread across 3 age group categories starting today. After successful events in Lucknow, Pune, Srinagar, Secundrabad, Kurnool, Chennai, the seventh leg of the league in Odisha saw a massive turnout with 40 teams and 500 women from the 9th to the 11th of January 2024 at the Puri Zila School, Puri, Odisha.

“The Khelo India Women’s Rugby League is an initiative that will definitely empower the younger generation to take up the sport. Odisha has defined itself as a champion of sports and it is great to be conducting the seventh leg of the league here. The state of Odisha has historically produced great talent in the sport of Rugby for the country and a league such as this will only encourage more talent to come up the ranks.” Said Mr. Upendra Kumar Mohanty, Secretary, Odisha Rugby Football Association.
 
“The motto behind this initiative backed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, is to encourage women to make sport a part of their identity. It gives us immense joy to be able to facilitate this for young girls and women across the country, and we thank the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for their belief in our sport.” Said Mr. Rahul Bose, President, Indian Rugby Football Union, on the onset of seventh leg of the league.
 
Khelo India is the flagship program of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, with the objective to promote sport across the country. The main objective of the league is to increase participation of women in rugby across the country, to identify potential talent across different age categories, and to provide exposure to female rugby players across all age groups in high level competitions.
 
The league across all age categories is conceptualised to be completed over 3 days with matches being conducted from 8am to 5pm and included the stars of the national Indian Rugby Women’s team alongside upcoming talent from the state of Odisha namely Hupi Majhi, Dumuni Marndi, Mama Naik, Tarulata Naik, Nirmalya Rout and ⁠Ritu Majhi.

“The Khelo India Women’s League is going to help spread the sport even further. Women will now have more opportunities to play. Similar to other sports that have local leagues, this will make the sport more popular and accessible. We are extremely happy to win the Senior Women’s event and are extremely thankful to KIIT, Rugby India and Khelo India for their support.” Said, Hupi Majhi, Member, Indian Women’s Rugby team and captain of the winning team, KIIT.