GURGAON: Mr Kuldeep Malik, Chief Coach of Indian Women Wrestling team, and the man behind the Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, kicked off Sportopia 2017, the annual sports meet of the G.D. Goenka University amidst great excitement and fanfare on January 27, 2017.

Mr Malik, during his inaugural address, asked the students to respect their opponents. “India has a great legacy of playing sports,” Mr Malik, who has coached some of India’s wrestling stars, told the participating teams. A medal winner at several international wrestling events, Mr Malik had a simple mantra for the students. He told them that the only way to succeed is through hard work, determination and discipline.

Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Dr Deependra Kumar Jha, administered the oath of sportsmanship to the players while Dr P.K. Goel, Chairman Sportopia Organising Committee, delivered the welcome address.

The day became more pleasant as the sun came out and over 1,500 participants from nearly 50 Universities, colleges and institutes of Delhi/NCR, Haryana, and other neighbouring states left for their respective venues.

The two-day event will witness teams fighting for titles in ten sports — cricket, kabaddi, table tennis, volleyball, badminton, squash, lawn tennis, basketball, kho-kho and football.

Some of the colleges and universities participating in the event are St Stephens, Lady Shri Ram College, Shiv Nadar University, Amity University, Galgotia University, Hansraj College, Rajasthan University, NorthCap University, K R Mangalam University and Apeejay Stya University.