Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Players from Madhya Pradesh won 282 medals in 2025. Of them, 28 were won in international tournaments and 254 in national events. The Madhya Pradesh government is running 11 sports academies in the state, where 1,300 players are being trained in 18 sporting disciplines.
Players from State Shooting Academy won 12 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze (total 17) medals in 6th Asian Shooting Championship played in Kazakhstan from August 25-30. At Asian Canoe Slalom Championship in Guizhou, China, the India team comprising three players (Shikha Chauhan, Pallavi Jagtap, and Reena Sen) from State Shooting Academy won silver.
Madhya Pradesh team did well at National Games 2025, Uttarakhand. With 82 medals (34 gold, 25 silver and 23 bronze) it was in the top three among states. The year also witnessed Madhya Pradesh emerging as the champion among states at Khelo India Water Sports Festival played in Srinagar in August. The state won a total of 18 medals including 10 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze.
It was a dream come true for young tribal football players from Vicharpur, a village in Shahdol district called MP's Mini Brazil, when five of them flew to Germany in the first week of October for advanced training in the sport at football club Ingolstadt 04 on the invitation of the club's CEO Dietmar Beiersdorfer. Later, Beiersdorfer visited the village to interact with players.
Vivek & Kranti
Players from the state also contributed to victories. Vivek Sagar Prasad from Hoshangabad district was a member of Indian team that won gold medal in Hockey Asia Cup 2025 played in Rajgir, Bihar, while Kranti Gaud from Chhatarpur was a part of the Indian Women's Cricket team that won ICC Women's Cricket World Cup, the final of which was played in Navi Mumbai on November 2. Chief minister Mohan Yadav presented a cash reward of Rs 1 crore to her. Sunita Sarathe, Sushma Patel and Durga Yevle from the state who were members of India s World Cup-winning Blind Women s Cricket team, were feted with a cash reward of Rs 25 lakh each.
HC upholds Bhavna's claim
In December, Madhya Pradesh High Court dismissed a petition challenging the state government's decision to confer Vikram Award on mountaineer Bhavna Dehariya. In August, the court had granted a temporary stay on the conferment of the award on Bhavna.
