Sports in Andhra Pradesh has its own importance, where many sporting personalities were into limelight. The Sports Authority of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

(SAAP) undertakes the sports development activities such as construction of stadiums, establishment of sports academies and other sporting related activities. The sports infrastructure have increased tremendously by improving infrastructure in outdoor and Indoor stadiums, play fields, sports academies, sports equipments etc. Sports such as

kho kho Kho kho or kho-kho is a traditional Indian sport that dates back to ancient India. It is the second most popular traditional tag game in the Indian subcontinent after kabaddi. Kho kho is played on a rectangular court with a central lane connec ...

kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

are played mostly in Andhra Pradesh.Most sports players from

Andhra pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

represent national level competitions and very few international competitions.

Cricket

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

is one of the most popular sports in the state. The

Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy International Cricket Stadium Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy International Cricket Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is primarily used for international cricket matches, and also a proposed future home ground for I-League club Sr ...

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...

is the home to

Andhra Pradesh cricket team The Andhra cricket team is an Indian domestic cricket team representing the South India state of Andhra Pradesh. The team's main home ground is Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy International Cricket Stadium at Visakhapatnam, while some home matches ...

. The venue regularly hosts international as well as domestic matches. Notable cricketers from Andhra Pradesh, include C.K Nayudu,

Maharajkumar of Vizianagram Lt. Col. Pusapati Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju (28 December 1905 – 2 December 1965), better known as the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram or ''Vizzy'', was an Indian cricketer, cricket administrator and politician. Childhood Vizzy was the ...

M. V. Narasimha Rao Madireddy Venkat "Bobjee" Narasimha Rao (born 11 August 1954), is a former Indian cricketer who played in four Test matches from 1978 to 1979. He was also a cricket coach. Cricket career He was picked to play against West Indies in 1978–79 ...

M. S. K. Prasad Mannava Sri Kanth Prasad (born 24 April 1975) is a retired Indian cricketer. He was most recently the chief selector of the Indian National Cricket Team and lead the selection of the Indian team for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. He played six T ...

V.V.S. Laxman Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman (; born 1 November 1974) is a former Indian international cricketer and a former cricket commentator and pundit. A right-hand batsman known for his elegant stroke play, Laxman played as a middle-order batsman in T ...

Tirumalasetti Suman Tirumalasetti Laxminarayana Suman (born 15 December 1983) is an Indian first class cricketer. He made his debut in first class cricket for Hyderabad cricket team, Hyderabad. He is a right-handed batsman who either opens the innings or bats in th ...

Arshad Ayub Arshad Ayub (born 2 August 1958) is a former Indian cricketer who played in 13 Test matches and 32 One Day Internationals from 1987 to 1997. In January 2010, he became the manager for the Indian Cricket team for the series held in Bangladesh ...

Ambati Rayudu Ambati Thirupathi Rayudu (born 23 September 1985) is an Indian cricketer who currently captains the Baroda cricket team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy championship. He played 61 limited overs matches for the India national cricket team between ...

Venkatapathy Raju Sagi Lakshmi Venkatapathy Raju, sometimes spelt Venkapathy Raju (born 9 July 1969) is a former Indian cricketer , cricket administrators & cricket coach. He came into the Indian side in 1989–90 after capturing 32 wickets in the domestic seaso ...

Sravanthi Naidu Sthalam Krishnamurth Sravanthi Naidu (born 23 August 1986) is an Indian former cricketer who played as a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. She appeared in one Test match, four One Day Internationals and six Twenty20 Internationals for India betwee ...

Yalaka Venugopal Rao Yalaka Venugopal Rao (born 26 February 1982) is an Indian former cricketer. He played as a right-handed middle order batsman and right arm off-break bowler. He was the first Indian "super sub" in One Day International (ODI) cricket. He played ...

Hanuma Vihari Gade Hanuma Vihari (born 13 October 1993) is an Indian international cricketer who has played for Indian cricket team. He currently plays for Andhra and captains them in Ranji Trophy. Vihari was a member of India that won test series in Austr ...

etc. The

Andhra Cricket Association Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) is the governing body of Cricket in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The association is affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India and governs the Andhra cricket team. The association was founded ...

(central zone) has an Amaravati International Cricket Stadium in

Mangalagiri Mangalagiri is a South Suburb of Vijayawada in Guntur district of States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The town is a part of Mangalagiri Tadepalle Municipal Corporation and part of Tenali revenue division. It i ...

Amaravati Amaravati () is the capital of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located on the banks of the river Krishna in Guntur district. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone at a ceremonial event in Uddandar ...

Guntur district Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the largest city of the district in terms of area and with a po ...

. Former India batsman

VVS Laxman Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman (; born 1 November 1974) is a former Indian international cricketer and a former cricket commentator and pundit. A right-hand batsman known for his elegant stroke play, Laxman played as a middle-order batsman in T ...

, inaugurated Andhra Cricket Association's Central Zone Academy in June 2013 at this venue. Andhra Cricket Association is the headquarters of the

India national women's cricket team The India women's national cricket team, also known as Team India or Women in Blue, represents India in women's international cricket. It is governed by Board of Control for Cricket in India India made its Test debut in 1976, against the West ...

Chess

Humpy Koneru Koneru Humpy (born 31 March 1987) is an Indian chess player best known for winning the FIDE Women's rapid chess championship in 2019. In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster (GM) at the age of 15 years ...

, from

Gudivada Gudivada is a city in Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Gudivada mandal in Gudivada revenue division. It is one of the cities in the state to be a part of Andhra Pradesh Capital ...

Krishna district Krishna district is district in the coastal Andhra Region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is the coastal district of Andhra Pradesh. Machilipatnam is the most populated city in the di ...

of the state, is an Indian

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

Grandmaster. Koneru (during 2002-08 period), held the record as the youngest woman ever to become a grand master. In 2001 she won the World Junior Girls Chess Championship. She is currently in the lead in the

FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–2014 The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

and won many awards namely Asias youngest International Woman Master (1999), World under-14 championship, Castellan, Spain (2001), Indias youngest Woman Grand Master (2001), World Junior Championship, Athens (2001),

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

in (2003).

Pentala Harikrishna Pentala Harikrishna (born 10 May 1986) is an Indian chess grandmaster. He became the youngest grandmaster from India after attaining the title in 2001, a record now held by Gukesh D. He was Commonwealth Champion in 2001, World Junior ...

, is a

player from

Guntur Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the Ba ...

. became the youngest grandmaster from India on 12 September 2001. Won gold medals in

Commonwealth Chess Championship The Commonwealth Chess Championship is a gathering of chess players from Commonwealth countries. Winners : History A championship was planned for New Zealand in 1949, but it was canceled because the British Chess Federation was unable to attend ...

(1999, 2000, 2001), Ron Banwell MSO Masters tournament (2001), World Junior Champion (2004),

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

(2006), Spice Cup Tournament (2008), Nancy closed chess tournament (2009),

Chigorin Memorial The Chigorin Memorial is a chess tournament played in honour of Mikhail Chigorin (1850–1908), founder of the Soviet Chess School and one of the leading players of his day. The first and most important edition was the one played in 1909 in St. Pe ...

(blitz) (2009), Asian Team Chess Championship (2009), New York Open (2010), Asian Continental Individual Chess Championship (2011).

Dronavalli Harika Harika Dronavalli (born 12 January 1991) is an Indian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). She has won three bronze medals in the Women's World Chess Championship, in 2012, 2015 and 2017. Dronavalli was honored with the ...

is a

grandmaster from

district of

. She won the Asian Individual Women Chess Championship. Her achievements include the Commonwealth Womens Championship (2006, 2007, 2010),

World Youth Chess Championship The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015, the event has been split into "World Cade ...

titles (2004), Bronze medal in

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), was a regional multi-sport event celebrated from November 12 to November 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, although several events ...

in Woman's individual rapid event, second Indian woman Grandmaster (after

Koneru Humpy Koneru Humpy (born 31 March 1987) is an Indian chess player best known for winning the FIDE Women's rapid chess championship in 2019. In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster (GM) at the age of 15 years ...

). She was awarded the

in 2007.

Weight lifting

Karnam Malleswari Karnam Malleswari (born 1 June 1975) is a retired Indian weightlifter. She is the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Olympics in 2000. In 1994, she received the Arjuna Award and in 1999, she received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, I ...

, the first female Indian to win an

Olympic medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold, silver, and bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respectively. The granting of awards is laid o ...

, hails from

Srikakulam district Srikakulam district is one of the twenty-six districts of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, located in the Uttarandhra region of the state, with its headquarters located at Srikakulam. It is one of the si ...

of Andhra Pradesh. She won the bronze medal on 19 September 2000, in the 69 kg category with a lift of 240 kg.

Dandamudi Rajagopal Rao Dandamudi Rajagopal Rao (14 October – 6 August ) was an Indian Asian Games Medallist, Olympic Weightlifter, Bodybuilder, Film Actor, Sports Administrator and Coach. Sports achievements In 1946, he won 1st place in XII Olympic Sports Even ...

, the first male Indian to win 13 Year national weightlifting champion.

Badminton

Pullela Gopichand Pullela Gopichand (born 16 November 1973) is a former Indian badminton player. Currently, he is the Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001, becoming the second In ...

, is a former

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

player. He won the

All England Open Badminton Championships The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the BWF's latest grading system, it was given Super Series status in 2007, upgraded to Super Series Premie ...

(2001), to becoming the second Indian to achieve it after

Prakash Padukone Prakash Padukone (born 10 June 1955) is a former Indian badminton player. He was ranked World No. 1 in 1980; the same year he became the first Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championships. He was awarded the Arjuna award in 1972 ...

. He won his National Badminton Championship 5 times in a row (1996-2000). He won two gold and one silver at the Indian national games (1998), Toulouze open championship in France (1999) and the

Scottish Open championship The Genesis Scottish Open is a professional golf tournament in Scotland, and is one of five tournaments that are part of the Rolex Series, which identifies it as one of the European Tour's premier events. It has been played on various courses, b ...

. He won many awards namely

(1999),

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna The Khel Ratna Award (), officially known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award ( Major Dhyan Chand Sport Jewel Award), is the highest sporting honour of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Governm ...

(2001),

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

(2005),

Dronacharya Award The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is sports coaching honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Drona, often referred as "Dronacharya" or "Guru Drona", a ch ...

(2009),

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

(2014) Chetan Anand is a

player from

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...

. Chetan Anand was a four time National Badminton champion in 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2010.

References

{{Sport in India