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

Athletes from the Haryana city of Sonipat earned 13 gold medals across multiple sports for India at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The winners excelled across five disciplines, including hockey, archery, athletics, kabaddi, and wrestling. Medallists included hockey players Neha Goyal and Abhishek Nain, archer Kushal Dalal, runner Kiran Pahal, and wrestler Sujeet Kalkal, highlighting the city's rise as a diverse sporting powerhouse.

The city's remarkable success is driven by deep family sacrifices, grassroots academies, and access to premier training facilities like the Sports Authority of India centre. Local leaders also noted that shrinking agricultural landholdings have motivated families to pursue sports as a reliable pathway to government employment and financial stability.