Bihar charges as e-sports, starts historic Khelo India Youth Games

The e-Sports industry in India received a significant shock with its inclusion as a performance game in the seventh edition of the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) held in Bihar. Creating a strong impression, the host state acquired several top-three finishes in various events, underlining its emergence as a force in this fast growing domain. See the results given below and more information.

Bihar led charge in ESports in Khelo India Youth Games

A total of eight states participated in the performance program, which compete in subjects such as BGMI, Chess, Street Fighter 6 and Football. The event reflected India’s quick journey towards recognizing e-Sports as a equal skill-based sport with traditional Olympic themes.

In all categories, BGMI continues the top position as the most popular e-sport in India. Sixteen teams from each state -two -two -Kiag 2025 were included for the top finish. Bihar’s A and B teams claimed respectively at the first and third places, while the Tamil Nadu team had sandwiches between the two domestic sides.

In the e-Football Console event, Arnav Rajiv Parakh of Tamil Nadu won, followed by Tanav Raj of Bihar in the second and Ronit Sagar Satam of Maharashtra. Chess saw that local talents dominated once again, in which Rupesh B Ramchandra and Amrit Raunak finished first and second, and Mohit Kamlesh Thavi of Maharashtra completed the podium.

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In Street Fighter 6, Mandlapu Sreejesh of Telangana claimed the top position. He was trapped in the second by Parth Swapnil Pawar of Maharashtra and Rohit Kumar of Bihar in the third.

The e-Football Mobile category concluded in a thrilling final between Lamguhao Kipgen in Nagaland and Jipin Gongo in Arunachal Pradesh, with a title to the Northeast. Partha Varekar of Maharashtra finished third.

Supported by the Bihar State Government and Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Federation of Electronic Sports Association of India (FEAI) formed the backbone of the event, which followed a nationwide qualification tournament on 25 April.

Appreciation of collaborative attempt, Founder of Fiai Vaibhav Denge Said, “This is a great initiative and thanks to me and the Sports Authority of India and the Government of Bihar, its sports department and the entire team should give a shout to the Sports Authority, which includes e-Sports as part of the Khelo India’s movement, which have been successfully doing for the last few years.

Denge said, “This Khelo India initiative has helped India take competitive games at school and college levels. It not only enhances the abilities of the youth, but also acts as a great platform to scout talent. Therefore, it is a very welcome step to include e-Sports.

looking ahead, Feai co-founder Abhishek Issar Looks at the start of e-sports in Bihar as an important step towards the global competition: “With the E-Sports World Cup prescribed in 2027, Kiag platform can help us identify more talents for the preparation of the global showpiece event in Saudi Arabia.