Sunday, May 8, 2011

Sports



The 2010 Commonwealth Games was the largest sports event held in India. Shown here is the Opening Ceremony at theJawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the third largest stadium in India.

Cricket and soccer are the most popular sports in Delhi. There are several cricket grounds (or maidans) located across the city. The Feroz Shah Kotla stadium is one of the oldest cricket grounds in India and is a venue for international cricket matches. The Delhi cricket team represents the city in the Ranji Trophy, a domestic first-class cricket championship. The city is also home to the IPL team Delhi Daredevils, and ICL team Delhi Giants (earlier named Delhi Jets).
Football is a very popular sport in the city and is home to the newly formed AIFF-u19 club which will take part in the 2011 format of the I League. The only football stadium in Delhi is the Ambedkar Stadium which holds 20000 people though in the past few years due to tremendous rise in popularity of the sport has held up to 50000 people in the past years.Delhi even witnessed India winning back to back trophies in football in the form of the 2007 Nehru Cup defeating Syria 1–0 AFC Challenge Cup 2008defeating favourites Tajikistan 4–1 by a stellar performance by local Star Sunil Chhetri and the 2009 Nehru Cup.
Rugby has become an increasingly popular sport among youngsters and the city is home to the Delhi Lions and Delhi Hurricanes. The city successfully played host to 2010 Asian Five Nations Rugby Tournament's Division Two match between India and Philippines. The Philippines defeated India to win promotion to Division One in 2011, and maintain their unbeaten record within the tournament in 2010. The Only Stadium in the city for this particular sport is in the Delhi University North Campus. Boxing and shooting figure among increasingly popular sports in the suburb of Gurgaon.
Formula 1 has now got a circuit in India in Greater Noida, a suburb of Delhi in the twin cities area of (Noida-Greater Noida), which is all set to host the Indian Grand Prix in October 2011 with the Jaypee Group constructing the circuit. It is set to be among the top 5 fastest circuits in the world. The team, Force India F1, was formed in October 2007 when a consortium led by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and Michiel Mol bought the Spyker F1 team for € 88 million. Force India F1 represents increased Indian participation within Formula One.
Golf is also a very popular sport in the capital city and the National Capital Region, which is home to the highest number of golf courses in India. Other sports such as field hockey, basketball, tennis, squash, badminton, swimming, kart racing, weightlifting, table tennis, cycling, roller skating and cue sports, such as snooker, billiards and diving are also popular.
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium are other stadiums in Delhi. In the past, Delhi has hosted several domestic and international sporting events, such as the First and the Ninth Asian Games. Delhi hosted the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the largest multi-sport event ever held in India. Delhi lost bidding for the 2014 Asian Games, and considered making a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics. However, sports minister Manohar Singh Gill later stated that funding infrastructure would come before a 2020 bid. The mess left after the Commonwealth Games prompted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to replace sports and youth affairs minister Manohar Singh Gill with Ajay Maken in the 19 January 2011 cabinet reshuffle.

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