 "An iron pole of a basketball hoop lies on the court after it fell on Hardik, a 16-year-old national-level player who died in the freak accident, in Rohtak, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. PTI")
Haryana has been rocked by twin deaths on basketball courts where two teenaged athletes were killed in separate incidents due to the pole collapsing over them while they were practicing. Hardik Rathee, a 16-year-old national-level basketball player, and Aman, a 15-year-old basketball player, were killed on Tuesday and Sunday respectively.
A CCTV clip showing Hardik’s accident has been going viral on social media. In the clip, Hardik can be seen practicing on the basketball court at the district’s Lakhan Majra village. As he jumps towards the rim and attempts to hang from it as players do while practicing slam dunks, the whole pole snapped and fell over his chest. Fellow athletes could be seen rushing towards Hardik in an attempt to rescue him.
He was reportedly rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to injuries within 20 minutes.
Aman also died in a similar accident in Bahadurgarh at the Shaheed Brigadier Hoshiar Singh Stadium on Sunday. He succumbed to his injuries on Monday.
Haryana basketball court deaths: Family members distraught
According a report in The Times of India, just a day before the unfortunate accident, Hardik had told his father that he will play for India next year.
“After repeated requests, the basketball equipment including the poles were not provided. His younger brother, Pratik, too is a national-level player. How should I convince my wife Nirmala to send Pratik to train at the same court?” Hardik’s father Sandeep Rathee said to The Indian Express
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View All“This is not a death but a murder,” Hardik’s cousin Khadak Singh told the The Indian Express.
The report also quoted another athlete as saying that ‘a tender had been issued to install a new post, but officials who inspected the site failed to act even though it was visibly weak.’
Aman’s mother Kanta Devi told The Times of India that her son had assured her that he will make the family proud.
Aman’s cousin Rohit Kumar alleged that a similar incident had happened in 2022 in the same Bahadurgarh stadium. “Earlier in 2022, there was another incident at the same stadium when the basketball pole fell on a trainee and he died,” he said.
Haryana basketball court deaths: Govt springs into action
After the twin incidents, the Haryana Sports Department suspended Rohtak’s District Sports Officer with the Sports Minister Gaurav Gautam taking “strict cognizance”.
The department termed the two deaths “serious and unfortunate” and has directed sports officers at district level to go to such facilities and do an inspection urgently. The department has directed these officers to shut down or remove unsafe infrastructure.