I watched the World Yoga Championships and realized that my dad was right all along
For years, my father’s prescription for my frantic life was simple, repetitive, and completely ignored: start yoga to calm the mind. Like most sons who sail through the quiet persistence of parental wisdom, I thought of it as background noise. I thought yoga belonged in the realm of slow mornings and lifestyle, not the high-octane world of a sports journalist.
By June 2nd, peace of mind was the last thing on my agenda. I was still carrying the severe exhaustion to the core of the frantic IPL 2026 season and was desperately looking for a short window to breathe before the 2026 FIFA World Cup demanded my full attention. The plan was just to recharge the batteries. I didn’t have any other sport on my radar.
Then the organizers of the Yogasana World Championship called.
My initial instinct was to think of it as a desk-bound clinical exercise: write a short explanation introducing the sport to our readers and move on. When Yogasana head Bharat Udit Sheth kindly invited me to Ahmedabad to cover it live, I politely declined citing the brutal calendar ahead.
But newsrooms have a way of disrupting quiet plans. On June 3, the team leader quietly nudged me towards the tournament – exactly the same way he had nudged me at the Hockey Asia Cup in Rajgir the previous year. Having just survived his own IPL grind, his briefing on Ahmedabad was short and ominous: “It’s absolutely hot outside.”
He omitted a similar warning about Rajgir, which turned out to be a natural sauna in itself, leaving me to wonder if he was secretly hanging around like an Ironman coach testing my physical endurance. Jokes aside, I trusted his intelligence sense. Within hours the tickets were booked.
Before I left, he left me with one parting piece of advice: Keep an open mind when looking for a role.
This is easier said than done when you approach a discipline that is still fighting for its identity in a crowded sporting landscape. But when I entered the arena, I had my notebook open. On the first page I instinctively scribbled three words: One breath. One stage. One world.
COVERING YOGASANA
Then I looked up at the three competition stages, and my father’s vision of a quiet, meditative lifestyle instantly vanished. It took me a while to literally pick my jaw up off the floor.
The question that immediately captured my brain was simple: Is the human anatomy really designed for this?
On stage, the Indian athlete arched her back into a flawless, terrifying ‘D’ shape. Her head rested casually on the floor between her legs while her lower body remained as unyielding as granite. She looked at the crowd, smiled, raised her arms to complete the pose, and made the impossible look routine. In the press box, I could have sworn my lower back cracked in sympathy and my hamstrings tightened just looking at it. This was not a wellness retreat; it was elite, excruciatingly precise athleticism.
The sheer scale of the spectacle only added to the vertigo. It was not just a singular exhibition, but a complex matrix of six age categories and a confusing array of disciplines. There were individual battles in traditional yoga, foot, forward and hand balancing, twisting and artistic solos. Then came the synchronized choreography of group actions – rhythmic duo, artistic duo and the entire artistic group.
The expression was uniform all around the arena. Fans, seasoned journalists and even the organizers stood suspended in the same state of disbelief, collectively trying to process how the human body could be pushed to such aesthetic extremes. The World Yogasana Championship had multiple age groups and different disciplines (Courtesy: World Yogasana Championship)
The atmosphere inside the venue felt less like a competition and more like a community gathering. Athletes spent as much time helping each other as competing against each other. This was something many of them explained to me in detail during my first day covering the event.
After picking my jaw up off the floor and putting on my glasses, I decided to judge the sport for myself.
And so, along with three sets of judges, I began to watch the athletes closely.
Every asana felt perfect and full of wonder.
The results told a different story.
What looked flawless from the stands was often seen differently by the referees and even the athletes themselves.
That’s when I developed my own measurement system.
For me, it was all about the visual appeal and the ease with which the contestants performed their routines. It seemed that even the slightest vibration in the thigh muscle could make the difference between winning a medal and losing one.
This also helped me understand why the electronic scoring system was so important.
More importantly, I noticed that the athletes themselves seemed happy with the scoring.
PROBLEMS
But as soon as the initial astonishment wore off, some organizational problems began to emerge.
Organizing a tournament involving athletes from 78 countries is never easy, so the Yogasana Bharat officials can certainly afford a little leeway for a few shortcomings.
However, one of the biggest problems was scheduling.
While the competition was officially supposed to start at 8 a.m. each day, most events didn’t get underway until around 10 or 10:30 a.m. on the two days I attended, causing confusion among athletes and officials alike.
Team USA member and bronze medalist at the event, Kimani Blake, commented on how the delay affected the competitors.
“The only thing is the timing of the events. They gave us a schedule of when and where each event would be, but since we started, each event has been about 1 to 3 hours late.”
“Things keep changing very quickly and not everyone has information. Things get confusing very quickly.”
“As an athlete, you’re trying to warm up your body, you’re trying to organize your food when you’re going to an event. Now you thought you were going to screw up and now you haven’t eaten all day and you’re confused. That part is very stressful and I think that’s one of the main things that needs to be improved,” Kimani said.
Another question was the condition of the Eka Arena itself.
Using the lifts was often more difficult than doing the asanas, as both required immense patience. If you were lucky enough to get your hands on one, chances are it would already be full of athletes and officials traveling between floors.
The overall hygiene of the venue also left room for improvement, with pigeons occasionally providing their own freestyle aerial demonstrations.
Fortunately, none of the events were affected by the bird droppings, but it was something that clearly needed to be addressed.
Despite these concerns, organizers deserve the benefit of the doubt. It was the first Yogasana World Championship and with experience many of these problems can be solved.
AHMEDABAD SPORTS HUB
The debate about Ahmedabad becoming the sports capital of India has resurfaced repeatedly in recent years.
The city’s deep association with cricket has divided opinion, with some feeling that the sports hub story is being pushed a little too aggressively.
However, the yoga athletes I spoke to had a positive view of the city.
Veronica Vega, the youngest competitor at the Yogasana World Championships, felt that Ahmedabad could host even more yoga events in the future.
“When I see the city, I see that it could host more yoga competitions.”
“Because how many people are here and how many are watching and how many want to compete and do other things in yoga, it shows that a lot of people want to do it and a lot of people are doing it,” Vega said.
Nabila Sol Barrazza, who won all five of Argentina’s medals at the event, was equally impressed.
“They’ve created a huge event and they’re providing like five-star accommodation and all the services. So this is a really huge event that’s a sign to start and plan for the future to develop further.”
“I definitely feel very positive about all the countries that are here. We always talk about it like it’s incredible how they are so organized and provide everything we ask for.”
“They take care of us in a really nice way. So we’re really, really happy, and for sure all these comments will be around the world when we get back to our home,” Nabila said. Nabila wins all medals for Argentina (Courtesy: World Yogasana Championship)
However, one thing I was warned about before arriving refused to remain silent – the heat.
Every time you left the arena and came back, you felt exhausted.
Now imagine athletes competing in similar conditions at the Summer Olympics or Paralympics.
At that point, the contestants would effectively be battling both the weather and each other.
Ahmedabad also still has some work to do in terms of infrastructure. These areas will require increased attention ahead of the 2030 Commonwealth Games and potentially the 2036 Olympics if India’s bid is successful.
WHAT NEXT?
The biggest question surrounding yogasana remains simple: What’s next? Can it really stand the test of time and become a sustainable sport?
The organizers certainly believe it. Some have even suggested that yogasana could one day rival cricket and football in popularity. Naturally, that got a few smiles in the press box. Being ambitious is important. Shooting yourself in the foot is not. So we needed answers and Udit Sheth was the man to provide them.
His approach was measured. His focus was not on Olympic dreams or medal counts, but on making the sport attractive to viewers watching at home.
“My view is that the sport has to look sexy on TV. Finally, if it is spectator friendly, then we are doing something right,” said Sheth.
When asked about his Olympic ambitions, Udit was equally blunt.
“My vision is not to be included because we are the host country. I want to be included by my own standards. Now the Olympics can be anywhere.”
“I want to be there by 2030 as a demo sport, and God willing, we have it here, of course, we want to be included, but we want to be there, not like break dancing, you know, come to one Olympics and not be there for another.”
“That’s very important to me,” Udit said.
While there was talk of event management, Yogasana chief Bharat admitted there was still a lot to learn.
At the end of the championship, India emerged as the overwhelming winner with 80 medals, including 70 gold.
To put this dominance into perspective, Japan finished second in gold medals with just three.
The gap was huge.
But one thing a yoga asana can’t afford is to rest on its laurels.
Sports are constantly evolving.
Innovation can quickly change the pecking order.
Take hockey as an example. Before astroturf arrived, India was the team everyone feared. Once the surface changed, countries like the Netherlands, Germany, Australia and Belgium surged ahead.
Udit acknowledged that a similar challenge could arise in yogasana.
India has already sent nearly 80 trainers around the world to help other countries improve.
“Athletes from other countries are winning here in India. In 2 years the gap we have will change. Like you said, these guys are dying above their weight, aren’t they?”
“And I see there’s a rhythm on the African continent. There’s steel in South America and the Americans, so there’s a lot of catching up to do in a very short time, right?”
“And that’s where we’re also going to have to pick up our training and development,” Udit said.
This is where I felt academies could become essential.
One of the greatest advantages of yogasana is accessibility. India will need to work to engage academies to ensure they remain a dominant force in yoga (Courtesy: World Yogasana Championship)
All you really need is a mat and a little space. But if India wants to remain an undisputed force in sports, it will need to identify talent early, nurture it properly and consistently produce world champions. This process would also make the sport more attractive to younger generations.
The upcoming Yogasana Super League is another encouraging step that can help push the sport further into the mainstream.
As I was returning home, my phone rang.
It was my dad.
He wanted to know how the trip went. The moment I mentioned yogasana, his curiosity was immediately piqued. He wanted to know about the rules, the scoring system and how the contests worked. And then it occurred to me. Perhaps this is why yogasana could find a home in the sports world.
– The end
Published on:
13 Jun 2026 10:50 IST