Sports in India

Sports in India
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The history of sports in India is very ancient and dates back to the
Vedic era. It is more likely that many of today's Olympic disciplines
are advanced versions of games of strength and speed that flourished
in ancient India. Chess, wrestling, polo, archery and hockey (possibly
a fall-out from polo) are some of the games believed to have
originated in India.

Following are the some of games played in India

Gilli-Danda: It is a sport played using one small stick called 'gilli'
and one long stick called 'danda' like cricket with ball being
replaced by Gilli. This games is generally played in villages of
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana etc
states of India.

Kancha: It is played using marbles called 'kancha' in India in cities
as well as in villages also. The festival of 'Makar Sankranti' is
marked with competitions of this sport in various competitions.

Badminton: Badminton is a very popular sport in India. Badminton
is supposed to have originated in India 2000 years ago.

Bandy: India is having a Bandy team and Bandy Federation of
India takes care of it. It's headquarters are in Himachal Pradesh.
Bandy is generally played in northern India where there is
generally snow and ice.

Boxing: Boxing is not so populated game in India. During the 2008
Beijing Olympics, Vijender Kumar won a bronze medal in the
middleweight boxing category and Akhil Kumar and Jitender
Kumar qualified for the quarterfinals.

Cricket: Cricket is the most popular sport in India. India won the
1983 Cricket World Cup under Kapil Dev and finished as runner-
up in the 2003 World Cup under Sourav Ganguly.

Cycling: This history of cycling in India dates back to 1938. Cycling
Federation of India takes care of the sport.

Golf: Golf is an emerging sport in India. It is more popular in
wealthier classes than the middle class and poor class peoples in
India. There are numerous golf courses all over India. There is an
Golf Tour. India's men's golf team won silver at the 2006 Asian
Games.

Ice hockey: Ice hockey in India is mainly played in the Himalayan
region of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir. In winter season the
game is extremely popular and there are more than 25 clubs and
villages that play the sport. However, due to shortage of artificial
freezing, the game is limited to cold winter months of December,
January and February which facilitate natural freezing of lakes and
ponds.

Kayaking: Indian flat kayakers are considered emerging
powerhouse in the Asian circuit. Aside from professional flat water
kayaking, there is very limited recreational kayaking. Indian
tourists consider kayaking a one-time activity and not a sport to be
pursued.

Kabaddi : Kabaddi sport basically originated in India. It is one of
the most popular sport in India played mostly in villages. India has
taken part in four Asian games Kabaddi and won gold in all four of
them.

Lawn tennis: Tennis is popular among Indian in urban areas.
However, India's fortunes in the Grand Slams singles have been
unimpressive although Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati have
won may Men's Doubles and Mixed Doubles Grand Slam titles.

Mountain biking : Mountain biking is getting popular in India also.
From the last four years, Himachal MTB has been organised
regularly by HASTPA, and NGO. It is attended by a number of
national and international participants, such as Indian Force,
Indian Air Army, ITBP and a number of young and energetic MTB
individual riders from cities like Bangalore, Pune, Chandigarh and
Delhi.

Ruby: Like other sports founded in England and introduced during
the British Raj such as cricket, rugby union has a long history in
India. The first recorded match was played on Christmas day
1872, at CFC in Calcutta. Although low in profile as compared to
cricket or field hockey, it is growing as some Indian sporting clubs
are beginning to embrace the game.

Throwball: Throwball is also gaining popularity in India as a
competitive sport and Indian authorities of the game was
instrumental in organizing Asian level and later, world level
association for the sport. The game is popularly played in schools,
clubs, colleges throughout Asian countries such as India, Korea,
Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Pakistan and Nepal.

Voolleyball: Volleyball is a sport played all over India, both in urban
as well as rural India. It is a popular recreation sport. Indian ranked
5th in Asia and 27th in the world. Currently, an important problem
for the sport is the lack of sponsors.