Rohtak/Jhajjar/Gurugram: The last thing Hardik Rathi saw was the hoop he had spent years chasing. He had learned to dunk by watching American basketball star LeBron James on YouTube religiously, until he could mimic the moves on battered courts outside his house. By 15, he had won medals across India and made it to the national team. But two weeks ago, as he leapt for another routine dunk, the rusted pole at a Haryana Yuva Sports Complex ripped out of the ground and came crashing down on him.

At Hardik’s house, his father Sandeep tries to stay stoic, but his voice breaks: “The same ground on which he practiced every day… took his life.” The athletes, he says, kept complaining about the crumbling infrastructure at the Rohtak facility. Nothing changed.

“If anyone is to blame, it is the go

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