All India Sainik Schools National Games 2026: Winners Announced — Ghorakhal, Vikasa, Amaravatinagar, Jhansi and Kapurthala Take the Titles
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📅 Nov 8, 2026
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⏱️ 4 min read
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📅 Nov 8, 2026
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⏱️ 4 min read
Last verified: 8 November 2026. The winners, ceremony details and participant numbers in this article are ✅ CONFIRMED from the Ministry of Defence release of 7 November 2026, 8:21 PM (PIB Release ID 2334033). The games preview and background are from our earlier report on the closing ceremony.
Photo: Pexels
Yesterday evening, the fourth All India Sainik Schools National Games (AISSNG) 2026 ended the way these things should end — with medals, trophies, and five schools going home with a title. The closing ceremony at Sainik School Bijapur in Vijayapura, Karnataka, was held on 7 November 2026, with Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Sanjay Seth as chief guest, and the winners were announced on stage.
Here is the list, exactly as the Ministry of Defence released it:
| Event | Winner |
|---|---|
| Junior Boys’ Basketball | Sainik School Ghorakhal |
| Junior Girls’ Basketball | Vikasa Sainik School |
| Junior Boys’ Volleyball | Sainik School Amaravatinagar |
| Debate Championship | Sainik School Jhansi |
| Quiz Competition | Sainik School Kapurthala |
Five events, five different schools. That spread matters. No single school swept the games, which is exactly what a national championship across 43 schools should look like.
The games ran from 3 to 7 November 2026, organised under the aegis of the Sainik Schools Society, Ministry of Defence. In total, 544 cadets took part — 296 boys and 248 girls — representing 30 established Sainik Schools and 13 New Sainik Schools. Every one of them had already won at zonal level, across eight zones, to earn a place in Bijapur.
The programme was deliberately broader than sport: basketball for junior boys and girls, volleyball for junior boys, track and field for sub-junior and junior categories, plus debate and quiz competitions. The Ministry’s release describes the games as “a vibrant platform for national integration, cultural exchange and mutual understanding” — and honestly, that is the part parents should pay attention to. Cadets from different states, languages and backgrounds spent five days competing, eating and living together. That is the Sainik School idea in miniature.
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan was also present. He is an alumnus of Sainik School Bijapur, and his message to the cadets was short enough to remember: “Keep pushing your limits, never give up and stay hungry for excellence.”
If your child is preparing for AISSEE 2027, your calendar right now is the form (it closes on 2 December) and the exam (31 January 2027). That is correct — but it is only half the picture. The form is the door. What the games show is the room on the other side: organised sport at national level, public speaking, quizzing, and the habit of competing — and losing, and trying again — in front of peers from across India.
Two things from this week are worth telling your child. First, the Punglwa cadets who cracked the NDA with All India Ranks 61 and 125 came out of this same system — read their story here. Second, the cadets who won medals at Bijapur were not, for the most part, the children of officers or athletes. They were ordinary cadets who got a system that makes them practise every day. That system starts with the exam your child is preparing for now.
Sainik School Bijapur, whose motto is “Ajeet Hai Abheet Hai”, has completed 63 years of service. Yesterday it hosted the country’s future officers and told them to stay hungry. Not a bad place to aim for.
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