With an eye on the 2036 Olympics, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) is enhancing its athlete-feeder system through NCOEs and STCs, leading to increased medal wins in boxing, para sports, and other disciplines on the global stage.
With India steadily progressing in its bid to win the hosting rights for the Olympics 2036, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) is scaling up the athlete-feeder system in a bid to power up the medal tally across major competitions in the coming years.
Across National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs) and numerous SAI Training Centres (STCs), a new generation of athletes is moving from structured grassroots pathways to global podiums, according to a release.
With the number of these centres, academies and institutions set to increase further, the churning out of future champions becomes a seamless process.
Launched in 2019, the NCOE model was designed as an ‘athlete-centric, coach-driven’ high-performance ecosystem, with Sports Science, High Performance Directors and an Athlete Management System embedded into daily training.
NCOEs house over 4,000 athletes, forming the elite layer of a wider pyramid that includes STCs with nearly 4,800 trainees.
Growing Bench Strength and Success
The number of lesser-known achievers quietly making the tricolour unfurl in major international arenas through their performances is steadily increasing.
SAI Regional Centre (RC) Bhopal trainees Mohith HS and Chandura Boby Poovanna were part of India’s silver-medal-winning squad at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. This demonstrated India’s growing confidence in rotating talent and ever-increasing bench strength.
Dominance in Boxing
This institutional footprint is furthermore visible in boxing. From RC Sonepat to Guwahati and Aurangabad, NCOE boxers are dominating national and international events. At the World Boxing Cup Finals 2025, Minakshi won gold and Saweety secured bronze, while Abhinash Jamwal and Naveen claimed silver medals. SAI Aurangabad’s Disha Patil represented India at the Boxam Tournament in Spain, while Mayuresh Jadhav underwent a foreign training-cum-competition programme in Ireland. Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain, who has been training at SAI Guwahati, added further sheen by winning gold at the Boxam Elite International 2026.
Empowering Para Athletes
The growth of para sport is also another central pillar. SAI NCOE at Gandhinagar has, over the years, emerged as a high-performance feeder for para sports. At the Brazil Open Championship 2025, para powerlifter Jaspreet Kaur secured silver.
Also, in February 2026, campers from the centre delivered a commanding performance at the ITTF World Para Future in Australia, returning with two gold, two silver and three bronze medals — Subham Wadhwa clinching singles gold along with two additional podium finishes, while Prachi Pandey, Savita Ajjanakatti and Rishit Nathwani added to the tally across categories.
The momentum has been consistent across events and continents. At the Para Youth Asian Games 2025, Gandhinagar athletes secured medals in swimming, powerlifting, table tennis and athletics, with Nathwani alone claiming a gold, silver and bronze.
The centre’s depth was further on display at the Fazza International Para Athletics Grand Prix in February 2026, where its contingent produced multiple golds across shot put, discus, javelin and track events.
Achievements Across Diverse Sports
SAI NCOEs are not merely producing domestic champions; they are sustaining global competitiveness. The recurrent results underscore the systematic training, international exposure, and the emphasis being put towards sports science support for the equal empowerment of athletes and coaches.
The achievers span a variety of sports. In athletics, SAI Trivandrum’s Abinaya Rajarajan competed at the 12th Asian Indoor Championships in Tianjin. Even in disciplines like wushu, athletes such as Namrata Batra of SAI Itanagar have climbed Asian rankings, indicating the geographic and sporting diversity of the SAI network. SAI RC Lucknow’s Muskan clinched bronze at the Youth Asian Taekwondo Para Games 2025.
In rowing, Gouri Nanda K of RC Trivandrum won gold at the Ballarat International Regatta in Australia. Teenage cyclists from SAI RC Trivandrum also made headlines at the Track Asia Cup 2026. Keerthi Rangaswami C clinched three silver medals, while Niraimathi J, Pooja Swetha, Dhanyadha JP, Srimathi J, Shweta Gunjal, and Kishore N all contributed to podium finishes.
A New Institutional Framework for Excellence
The institutional framework behind these achievements is layered. NCOEs cater to athletes across myriad ages in a bid to make them ready for the Olympics, while STCs and National Sports Talent Contest (NSTC) schemes nurture talent from as young as eight. High-performance directors, integrated sports science, and revised financial norms further professionalise the athlete development in line with global standards.
As these young athletes transition from SAI NCOE setups to international arenas, they further keep embodying that India’s Olympic aspirations are being constructed athlete by athlete, medal by medal, and team by team.
The NCOEs have created tiered talent pipelines–junior squads feeding into senior national camps, with centralised monitoring of progress; the framework rests on three pillars: early talent identification, sustained high-performance training, and international benchmarking.
Under the scheme, athletes are provided with residential training, education support, sports science integration, and competition exposure without financial burden. Importantly, performance tracking is data-driven. Each athlete’s development is mapped against global standards, ensuring no stagnation. Synthetic turfs, recovery pools, high-performance gyms, and analytics suites have also become standard features.
By decentralising excellence–placing centres across regions–India is widening its talent net, the release said. Young athletes from rural belts now also have access to facilities once limited to metropolitan hubs.
As India aspires to host the 2036 Olympic Games, sustained competitiveness in individual and team events will be crucial both for performance and for creating a vibrant sporting atmosphere.
For decades, Indian sport relied heavily on individual brilliance and sporadic state-level success. The NCOE era represents a departure from that model. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)