Bijender Goel, Chairman, Pythian Council of India, Shantanu Agrahari President, Harjeet Singh Grewal and others inaugurating the competitions of the 12th National Gatka Championship in New Delhi.
New Delhi, June 13, 2025: The ancient Pythian Cultural Games have officially included the traditional martial art of Gatka, and teams from various countries will compete in international Gatka events at next year’s Pythian Games in Moscow. Bijender Goel, Chairman of the Pythian Council of India and Founder of the Pythian Games, announced this while inaugurating the second day of the three-day 12th National Gatka Championship at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi.
Pythian Cultural Games : Gatka Promoted as Heritage Sport on Global Stage
Speaking at the national-level competitions, Goel pledged fulsome support to the World Gatka Federation, Asian Gatka Federation and National Gatka Association of India (NGAI) for the international expansion and recognition of this ancient martial art in the world games.
On this occasion Shantanu Agrahari, IAS, president of the Pythian Council also addressed the gathering and enlightened the audience about the vision and significance of the Pythian Games.
The chief guest, Delhi MLA Jarnail Singh, highlighted the growing recognition of Gatka as a promising sport and an effective means of self-defense. He emphasized that the future of this heritage sport is progressive and encouraged both boys and girls to actively learn and benefit from it. He also distributed prizes to the winning players during the event.
Dr. Tejinderpal Singh Nalwa, President of the Asian Gatka Federation and Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India, along with Harjeet Singh Grewal, President of National Gatka Association of India (NGAI), and Sukhchain Singh Kalsani, Acting President, jointly remarked that the inclusion of Gatka in the Pythian Games marks a major milestone after its presence in the National Sports, Khelo India Youth Games, National Games, National School Games, and All India Inter-University Games.
Other dignitaries present on the occasion included Kulwinder Singh, Chairman, Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, Inderjit Singh, Malkit Singh, Jaswant Singh Khalsa and Kalpana Swami from Chhattisgarh, Vishal Singh (Telangana), Pandurang Ambure (Maharashtra), Paramjeet Singh (Madhya Pradesh), Prince Mishra (Jharkhand), Surendra Reddy (Andhra Pradesh) and Gurmeet Singh Rana and Angad Singh (Delhi).
