U20 Handball Players Asked To Pay Rs 3 Lakh For World Championship Participation
U20 Handball Players Asked To Pay Rs 3 Lakh For World Championship Participation Published By, Last Updated: June 23, 2026, 16:12 IST U20 India handball
U20 Handball Players Asked To Pay Rs 3 Lakh For World Championship Participation Published By, Last Updated: June 23, 2026, 16:12 IST U20 India handball team faces Rs 3 lakh pay to play at Women’s Junior World Championships in China, battling federation chaos. Rapid Read Representative image In what has come as a massive revelation, it has been learnt that U20 handball players were asked to pay a whopping Rs 3 lakh for participation in the World Championship, according to a report in The Tribune. The 12-member team coached by Sachin Chaudhary is now on the verge of realising their dream of representing India at the Women’s Junior Handball World Championships in Jinzhong, China.
But the team has had to endure significant sacrifices along the way to keep that dream alive. Instead of focusing on preparation for the biggest competition of their young careers, the players were asked by their respective state associations to contribute Rs 3 lakh each towards boarding and lodging expenses, according to the report. The situation stems from official apathy and infighting within the federation, which led to the derecognition of the Handball Association of India. It led to zero funding from the sports ministry for the tournament. Kanpur’s Soumya Srivastava comes from a challenging personal background, with her father undergoing kidney dialysis twice a week. To support her sporting ambitions, her brother even took loans from family and friends to help fund her journey towards representing India.
“We had to take a loan. It’s a difficult time for all of us, but what can anyone do when the government doesn’t recognise our federation," Soumya said while speaking to The Tribune. Sitting beside her was Kanishka from Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, whose father works as a state forest guard. She revealed that her family too had to borrow money, adding that multiple teammates who were unable to arrange the required amount have been forced to miss out on the trip to China for the tournament. “We just had an outdoor training camp for a week at DAV School, Sector 8, in Chandigarh. The tournament will be played indoors. We did whatever little the team and coaches could do, like developing combination plays," captain Riddhima said.
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