The Patliputra Sports activities Advanced floor was painted in celebration on Friday as Bihar’s ladies’ rugby crew scripted historical past, clinching a dominant 22-0 win over Odisha to bag the gold medal within the sport’s debut on the Khelo India Youth Video games (KIYG) 2025.
Among the many heroes of the day had been three gritty younger girls — Anshu Kumari, Saloni Kumari, and Alpana Kumari — who not solely powered their facet to victory but additionally embodied a bigger narrative of resilience, empowerment, and hope.
For Bihar, this wasn’t simply one other medal — it was an announcement. A press release that goals born within the slender lanes of Supaul, Patna, and Nalanda can shine vibrant on the nationwide stage.
A press release that the ASMITA girls’s League — a Khelo India initiative geared toward expertise improvement and nurturing younger ladies by means of completion and incentive — is bearing fruit in highly effective, transformative methods.
Ten out of the 12 gamers in Bihar‘s gold-winning squad have come by means of the ranks of the ASMITA League (Attaining Sports activities Milestone by Inspiring Girls By means of Motion), a grassroots motion that has redefined the scope of girls’s sports activities in Bihar over the previous three years. For a lot of of those ladies, rugby was as soon as an unfamiliar sport — at present, it’s their identification.
“None of us had even heard of rugby only a few years in the past. We had been in another sports activities and numerous circumstances led us to rugby. After which the introduction of the ASMITA League introduced the game to our districts, our faculties, our lives,” mentioned the trio, moments after the win. “The league gave us a platform, a objective, and confidence. That’s how this journey began.”
‘This gold is for everybody who dares to dream’
Anshu, a Class 12 scholar whose father runs a modest candy store, burst onto the scene by successful a bronze on the U-14 nationals in Pune. Saloni, daughter of a road vendor, now proudly remembers captaining India’s U-18 facet on the Asian Rugby Championship in Malaysia. And Alpana — who overcame a number of accidents, together with a fractured collarbone and a critical highway accident — stood tall, showcasing why grit beats the percentages.
“This gold isn’t just ours, it’s for each lady who dares to dream past boundaries. It’s for each guardian who supported us, and each coach who believed in us,” they added, their eyes glowing with delight.
The Khelo India Youth Games, too, have turn out to be a pivotal launchpad for younger athletes. For a lot of like Anshu, Saloni, and Alpana, a KIYG medal is not simply an achievement, it’s a attainable path to nationwide camps, job alternatives, and long-term recognition.
“We’ve seen seniors get authorities jobs after successful medals. That’s the dream. And we’re hopeful that this gold will take us nearer to that objective,” mentioned the women, as they joined the celebrations for the boys’ rugby crew, who additionally defeated Odisha to say gold later within the night.
On a historic day for Bihar rugby, amid cheers, tears, and high-fives, the message was loud and clear — That is only the start. With ASMITA laying the muse, and KIYG giving them a stage, Bihar’s daughters are sprinting in direction of a future stuffed with promise.
