From Hockey Nursery To Multi-Sports Hub: Madhya Pradesh's Remarkable Journey Over Past 20 Years

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Till a couple of decades back, the only sport Madhya Pradesh was known for was hockey. And that too was limited to Bhopal, which was known as the nursery of hockey and produced 10 Olympians and 17 national players.

It was states like Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal, Mizoram and Manipur that were known for their sports and sportspersons.

Bhopal may no longer be the nursery of hockey, but it has emerged as a cradle of many other sports, producing medal winners in national and international tournaments as well as star performers.

Bhopal is home to six state sports academies- shooting, equestrian, men’s hockey, water sports, martial arts and athletics and field sports. There are women’s hockey and badminton academies in Gwalior, cricket academy in Shivpuri and archery academy in Jabalpur and Malkhambh academy is proposed at Ujjain.

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The state government began establishing these academies from 2006-07 and the state has earned the status of Khelo India Centers of Excellence.

The 11 sports academies, providing training in 18 disciplines, are equipped with world-class infrastructure, with full time coaches on their rolls. They provide free-of-cost residential training to selected sportspersons. And the results are showing.

Madhya Pradesh topped the medal tally at the 2025 Khelo India Water Sports Festival held in Srinagar. It won 10 of the 24 gold medals on offer and its tally was 18.

The state also achieved success at the 38th National Games 2025 played in Uttarakhand, where it ranked third among states, winning 82 medals, including 34 gold.

Six players from the Madhya Pradesh State Women's Hockey Academy were part of the Indian team that qualified for the Rio Olympics, marking a return after 36 years.

The state is doing particularly well in water sports, shooting, hockey and martial arts. “I can say with pride that in water sports, we are among the leaders in the country,” said director sports Rakesh Gupta.

Para games is another field in which players from the state have made a name for themselves. Rubina Francis, from Jabalpur has secured India's first female pistol shooter Paralympic medal, and Kapil Parmar from Sehore is the first Paralympic medal winner in judo from the country. Duo was feted with prestigious Arjun Awards this year by Government of India.

998 players, 18 disciplines

A total of 998 players are being trained in 18 different sports and games in the sports academies in the state. They include 687 boarders and 311 day boarders. Among the boarders, 356 are women and among the day boarders, their figure stands at 143. The games in which they are being coached ranged from fencing to taekwondo to rowing and sailing, judo and karate, besides traditional sports like hockey, cricket, tennis, football and athletics.

Olympians & Paralympians

The Olympians and Paralympians from the state include Syed Jalaluddin Rizvi, Aslam Sher Khan, Samir Dad, Roop Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Neelakanta Sharma and Inam-ur Rahman, Neela Kanta (all hockey), Pappu Yadav (wrestling), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Rubina Francis (both shooting), (Hockey) and Kapil Parmar, (judo)

Medal winners

Year  National International Total

2023-24 501 87 588

2024-25 391 57 448

2025-26 214 31 245