Sonipat’s golden harvest: How Haryana city became India’s medal factory

Sonipat, a city near Delhi, delivered an unusually large Asian Games haul. Athletes from the city contributed 13 gold medals at the recently concluded Aichi-Nagoya Games. This mattered because Sonipat is not usually associated with Delhi’s influence, Gurgaon’s money or Noida’s infrastructure.

The achievement came from many separate sporting pathways. Sonipat athletes won gold in hockey, archery, kabaddi, athletics and wrestling. Families cleared farmland for practice, grandparents bought shoes, and coaches supported athletes who lacked money or equipment. Training centres around Rai and Bahalgarh helped convert ability into international results.

The result made Sonipat look different from traditional single-sport centres such as Bhiwani, known for boxing. Its success showed how talent, family sacrifice, local academies and concentrated facilities can combine. It may encourage greater attention to Sonipat’s sporting institutions and to athletes from other smaller cities.

Sonipat athletes won 13 gold medals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The figure includes both individual and team medals. It made the city one of the biggest contributors for a single Indian city at those Games.

The medals covered hockey, archery, kabaddi, athletics and wrestling. Seven Sonipat players were part of India’s gold-winning men’s and women’s hockey teams: four women and three men. The wider medal count also included athletes from the city’s other established sporting pathways.

This range is important because Sonipat’s sporting identity is not limited to one discipline. Its facilities and local training networks support different sports, while families and coaches help identify athletes early. The 13-medal result showed what can happen when these separate parts succeed together, even though the city lacks the infrastructure and wealth associated with some nearby NCR centres.

A sports nursery is a local environment that repeatedly develops young athletes into high-level competitors. It matters because talent alone is not enough. Athletes need someone to notice them, places to practise, skilled coaching and support that keeps them in sport.

Sonipat has this wider support system. It includes the SAI National Centre of Excellence, Motilal Nehru School of Sports at Rai, the Sports University of Haryana, village akharas, kabaddi nurseries and private academies. Pritam Rani Siwach’s hockey academy began with seven trainees in 2004 and now has around 200 players, including 150 girls.

The city’s results show the system’s reach. Sonipat athletes won 13 Asian Games gold medals across five sports. Its nursery is therefore not one building or one coach. It is a connected local ecosystem where families, schools, academies and major facilities help potential athletes continue and improve.

Sonipat’s sporting progress was supported by an unusual concentration of institutions and training centres. Coaches told TOI that access to proper training can determine whether talent is lost or realised. That access gave local athletes places to practise, live, study and recover.

The SAI National Centre of Excellence covers 83 acres. Its listed facilities include a 70-metre archery field, floodlit synthetic athletics track, synthetic hockey fields, two mud kabaddi courts, wrestling halls, rehabilitation facilities, a hypoxic chamber and hostels. Motilal Nehru School of Sports at Rai offers athletics, archery, weightlifting, wrestling and swimming.

The Sports University of Haryana, residential sports school, village akharas and private academies add more routes into competition. Pritam Rani Siwach’s academy is one example. It has produced national players and supports about 200 young athletes. Together, these facilities connect local discovery with elite preparation.

Young athletes often needed more than ability to continue. Families had to overcome poverty, social restrictions and missing equipment. Their support mattered because a child could be stopped from training by cost, household duties, community gossip or the absence of a nearby facility.

Kushal Dalal’s family cleared farmland and made straw targets when no archery ground existed. Kiran Pahal’s grandmother used pension money for running shoes after her father restricted her movement. Neha Goyal’s mother supported hockey while working in houses and a foam factory. Pritam Rani Siwach’s academy paid school fees, helped buy equipment and began providing food.

These actions removed immediate barriers and kept athletes in sport long enough to improve. Coaches also paid school fees for a stranger’s daughter. The examples show that talent identification works only when someone supplies permission, money, equipment, food or training at the right moment.

Sonipat could produce champions across sports because its sporting ecosystem is broad. Unlike a centre identified mainly with boxing, such as Bhiwani, Sonipat has facilities and training routes for several disciplines. This gives different kinds of athletes a chance to find a suitable sport.

The SAI centre includes archery, athletics, hockey, kabaddi and wrestling facilities. Motilal Nehru School of Sports adds athletics, archery, weightlifting, wrestling and swimming. Village akharas, kabaddi nurseries and private academies extend access beyond major institutions. The Pritam Rani Siwach academy focuses on hockey and has around 200 players.

This variety helps explain Sonipat’s 13 Asian Games gold medals across hockey, archery, kabaddi, athletics and wrestling. Its success was not based on one pipeline. It came from several pathways operating together, with families, coaches and facilities helping athletes progress in different disciplines.

Talent identification is the first link in an athlete’s journey, but it is not the whole chain. Someone must notice potential, and the athlete must have a way to practise regularly. Without equipment, coaching, transport, food or permission, ability can disappear before competition begins.

The article gives several examples. Kushal’s family created an archery space on their farm. Kiran’s grandmother bought running shoes after social restrictions interrupted her training. Neha entered hockey partly because free shoes, clothes and notebooks helped her family. Pritam Rani’s academy paid fees and supplied equipment and food to keep girls playing.

Sonipat’s institutions then provided specialised training. Coaches identified access to proper training as the difference between lost and realised talent. The city’s 13 gold medals show how household support and organised facilities can turn scattered potential into elite performance.

Sonipat’s Asian Games performance could change how sporting potential in smaller cities is viewed. The city won 13 gold medals despite having less influence, money and infrastructure than nearby Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida. That contrast may strengthen the case for investing where talent already exists.

Future support could build on Sonipat’s existing model: concentrated training centres, residential education, village akharas, private academies and family assistance. The SAI centre, school and university provide formal routes, while academies such as Pritam Rani Siwach’s create affordable entry points. Fee, food and equipment support can also keep poorer children involved.

The result may create more opportunities for young athletes, especially girls and children from low-income families. But the article’s evidence points to a clear condition: investment must improve access to proper training. Medals become more likely when discovery and support continue beyond one successful Games.