As many as 54 players of Indian Armed Forces to take part in 7th World Military Games in China

By Ravi Jalhotra
Wuhan [China], Oct 19 (ANI): As many as 54 players selected from three wings of the Indian armed forces are all set to participate in the 7th CISM Military World Games, inaugurated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan on Friday.
With an objective to improve its previous records, 54 players of Indian Armed Forces' sports contingent-- Army, Indian Air Force, and Indian Navy are participating in the nine-day long Military Olympics. Today is the first boxing match event in Wuhan.
India will participate in nine sports games in which athletes will be giving their best to bag the medals.
The nine-game events are archery, boxing, diving, modern pentathlon, shooting, TRAC and field, gymnastics, wrestling and tennis. Indian athletes will be giving their best to bag the medals in these sports events.
India won six medals in the last edition at South Korea in 2015 and Indian para-athletes won three medals in the previous editions. So far, India has taken part in three editions of the military games in 2007, 2011 and 2015. India is hoping to increase its medal count in the current World Military Games edition.
In 2007, India had hosted the 4th edition of the games in Hyderabad with 101 nations participating in the event.
Russia, Germany, France and Brazil are the veterans in CISM World Military Games.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday inaugurated the 7th Military World Games wherein more than 10,000 military officials from over 100 counties.
During the opening ceremony, five-starred red flag, the emblem of the games and the flag of International Military Sports Council were displayed. The ceremony also saw march by athletes from all the countries.
It is for the first time that China is hosting the Military World Games which is also known as Military Olympics.
A total of 35 venues have been built for the soldiers' Olympics. Of the 35 venues, 13 have been newly built, 17 have been reconstructed using sites formerly operated by the city and local universities, and five are temporary facilities.
The main venue of the Olympics is China's Wuhan, a city endowed with rich water resources, with 166 large and small lakes dotting throughout its territory. Hoping to promote the great lakes and rivers, all 35 venues of the games are allocated to be held in four zones, adjacent to local waters.
The theme for the 7th Military World Games is 'Military Glory and Peace'. The first military world games was inaugurated in Rome in 1955, and since then, it is held in every four years by the International Military Sports Council or CISM.
The CISM was founded in 1948 and now 139 member states across four continents participate. (ANI)