DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Sh. Anurag Singh Thakur, while describing Haryana as a land of champions in sports, said that hardly any other state has given medals to the country. The soil of Haryana not only spews gold. Rather this land produces players like Sakshi Malik, Ravi Dahiya, Bajrang Punia and Babita Phogat. Here the farmer stands for the country in the field, the jawan on the border and the player in the field. Anurag Thakur was addressing the players from all over the country present on the official inauguration of 4th Khelo India Youth Games-2021 at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex, Sector-3, Panchkula today. He said that the vision of starting Khelo India Youth Games and India University Games is that of the Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi. He appreciated the hard work of Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal and Haryana Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs, Sh. Sandeep Singh for organizing the 4th Khelo India Youth Games in Panchkula today. The Union Sports Minister said that more than 8,500 players and their accompanying officials and coaches would enjoy Haryana's hospitality. He said that there are very good places to visit in Haryana, whenever you get time, you should definitely visit Haryana. It is said about Haryana that what is not found on Google is found in the rural areas of Haryana. Thakur said that Haryana had won the first medal in the first edition of Khelo India. He appealed to the players to win maximum medals from this land of Haryana. Gold medal is not only made of gold but also of sweat, courage and hard work of the player. He said that in the 75 years of the country's independence, we could not do as much as we should have done in the field of sports. He said that there was a time when players like Sh. Sandeep Singh and himself used to play and at that time they had to travel on trains without a reserved tickets, the grounds were also not good and they had to stay in Dharamshalas and school rooms. Today, due to the Prime Minister's vision, facilities are being provided to the players in the country to play in good sports grounds and stay in good hotels. Now the player has to focus only on his game. (editor@dailyworld.in)