Young dreams cut short — Families shattered after death of teen players

The tragic death of two basketball players — Hardik Rathee (16) of Lakhan Majra in Rohtak and Aman (15) of Bahadurgarh in Jhajjar — has not only left their families devastated but also sent shockwaves across the state.

The two players dreamed of building a career in sports and had been toiling hard to achieve their goal. Tragically, both died in a similar manner when the basketball pole collapsed on them during practice. Hardik’s father Sandeep Rathee works on a contractual basis in a government department. His mother is a homemaker and his younger brother (12), too, practices basketball.

“Hardik was a talented player and had excelled in many national-level junior and sub-junior basketball competitions. He aspired to secure a place in the Indian team. Recently, he was selected for a national camp to be held in Maharashtra in December and was very excited about it. He had even bought new basketball shoes from Delhi for the camp,” said Khadak Singh, Hardik’s cousin, whose two minor sons are also learning basketball.

He added that Hardik had been playing basketball for more than five years and had won numerous state and national awards during this period. The basketball poles were in bad condition for a long time and village boys practising on the court had flagged the danger to the authorities several times, yet no action was taken, he claimed.

“Hardik’s parents are not in a condition to speak. The tragedy has shattered them. We have not yet filed a police complaint, but we demand action against government officers responsible for replacing the rusted poles that were installed years ago. MP Deepender Hooda had provided a grant of Rs 11 lakh in 2023 for replacing the poles and maintaining the club, but the funds remained unutilised,” claimed Singh.

Sandeep Kumar, husband of Lakhan Majra sarpanch Usha Devi, said Hardik was a gifted player. “Hardik, along with other boys, practiced twice daily. On Tuesday, he returned home around 7.30 am after the morning session and went back to the court again at around 10 am. The fatal incident occurred around 10.30,” he added.

Basketball court build on panchayat land

Sandeep, husband of village sarpanch Usha, explained that the Yuva Sports Club at Lakhan Majra in Rohtak has been developed on 2.5 acres of panchayat land with courts for basketball and kabaddi. A basketball nursery is also being run there and a private coach trains the youth.

“MP Deepender Hooda had provided the remaining grant in June. A tender for replacing the poles and laying a synthetic surface was floated in October, but the work is yet to begin,” Sandeep added.

He said, “Village boys are being trained by private coach Mohit Rathee at the club.”

Coach Mohit Rathee said they had been raising concerns about the poor condition of the poles for several years. “In 2023, a grant of Rs 11 lakh provided by the MP was received, but nothing has been done since,” he added.

Deepender slams govt

Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda visited Hardik’s family at Lakhan Majra village to offer his condolences. He criticised the state government for failing to utilise the Rs 18.5 lakh grant he had allocated under the MPLAD fund.

“The tragedy is a stark reminder of the government’s apathy towards players and basic sports infrastructure. Because of this negligence, the nation has lost a promising athlete,” Deepender added.