Men's and Women’s softball will be played at the Indian National Games for the first time ever this year. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) announced that will have a total of 36 sports events. All 28 states and 8 union territories across India will participate in games.
The 36th National Games will be held from 27 September to 10 October in six cities including state capital Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and Bhavnagar. More than 7,000 athletes will compete in the event.
The inclusion of softball in the National Games programme fits perfectly in the India Softball Association’s long term strategy of becoming a softball powerhouse. The nation will make its historic debut in the Asian Games women’s softball competition next year, and aims to compete for a spot in softball’s potential Olympic return at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
India is currently No. 16 nation in the WBSC Men’s Softball World Rankings, and No. 49 in the Women’s Softball World Rankings.
The last edition of the National Games were played in Kerala in 2015, with 33 sports.
