Double Delight for Bihar as Rugby Makes Impressive Debut at Khelo India Youth Games

Patna, May 9: While Rugby made its long-awaited debut at the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG), Bihar created history by bagging Gold in both the Girls & Boys categories at the Patliputra Athletic Stadium in Patna. The girls’ team dominated their contest against Odisha registering a 27-0 win while the boys edged out 14-12 winners against their Odia counterparts.

The 7th edition of the KIYG was held from May 4 to May 15, 2025, marking the first time the event took place in Bihar; featuring 28 sports disciplines. Rugby was introduced for the first time in this national multi-sport competition. And the home state showcased their prowess in style.

The competition was played in the 7s format featuring the top eight states in India. Bihar, Odisha, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala, West Bengal, and Delhi featured in both categories while Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh were the 8th team in boys and girls’ categories respectively.

The format featured a group stage followed by knockout phase which allowed all eight teams to compete for a place in the semi-finals despite their position in the group stage. The group stages and the quarter-finals were held on May 7th & 8th while the semi-finals and final were held on 9th. Bihar and Odisha dominated their respective pools in both sections registering dominant wins in most of their group stage matches.

Bihar, Maharashtra, Delhi, and Odisha made it to the semi-finals of the boys’ category, alongside the girls from Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Odisha. The semi-finals in both categories featured some entertaining matches, with Bihar and Odisha registering dominant 22-0 and 15-0 wins over Maharashtra and Delhi respectively. The girls’ from those two states too replicated the result in similar fashion matches over Maharashtra and Rajasthan; thereby setting up a Bihar vs Odisha clash across both sections.

The girls’ final saw Bihar emerge triumphant with Anshu Kumari, Saloni Kumari, and Alpana Kumari, leading charge. While the Boys’ finals kept everyone on the edge of their seats, the home state secured a hard-fought win by two points.

Here’s how all eight teams were ranked at the end of the tournament.