Popular games and sports in Pune include

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

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 ...

, basketball, badminton,

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, tennis, kabaddi, paragliding, kho-kho, rowing and

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 ...

. The Pune International Marathon is an annual

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

conducted in Pune. The

2008 Commonwealth Youth Games The 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games (Hindi: 2008 कॉमनवेल्थ यूथ गेम्स), officially known as the III Commonwealth Youth Games, and commonly known as Pune 2008, a regional sporting event that was held from 12 to 18 O ...

were held in Pune.

History

Badminton

The beginnings of

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 ...

can be traced to mid-19th-century Pune (then known as Poona). During a party, a few guests fastened feathers onto champagne corks and used the bottles as bats. They called this game ''Poonai''. The first rules of the game were written in Pune in 1873, by the British. Pune 7 Aces is the badminton team that represents the city in Premier Badminton League.

Cricket

Cricket is played between clubs affiliated with the Maharashtra Cricket Association, which maintains a domestic cricket team (the Maharashtra cricket team). This team, one of three based in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, competes in interstate matches and leagues such as the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

. Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is where National and One Day International matches take place. It has been named after the First Prime Minister of Independent India,

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

. An Indian Premier League cricket team based in Pune began play in 2011. A new stadium

Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium is a cricket stadium situated in the city of Pune, India besides the Pune Mumbai Expressway nestled between the hills of the Western Ghats. It is the home venue for the Maharashtra cricket team and is ...

built in Gahunje on the Mumbai–Pune expressway, inaugurated on 1 April 2012, is the home ground. The

has a seating capacity of 55,000 and is built on the

Mumbai Pune Expressway Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. The team was named Pune Warriors India and was brought for Rs.1702 Crores or $370 million. It is the most expensive team in the Indian Premier League, and was owned by

Sahara Group Sahara India Pariwar (''pariwar'' being Hindi for "family") is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. The group operates business sectors such as finance, infrastructure & housing, real estate, sports, power, ma ...

. The cost was a frequent concern for the team that lead to withdrawing prior to the 2012 season. The league helped fund the team so they could compete in the competition but eventually they folded following the 2013 season. Blades of Glory, India's first cricket museum, is based in Pune, run by Rohan Pate, a former Maharashtra Under-19 cricketer, inaugurated during IPL V by

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-scor ...

and located in the quaint Sahakar Nagar.

Football

The Pune Football Club, also known as Pune FC, is a football club that plays in the Indian Football League. It was established in August 2007.

Basketball

Pune has basketball at the Deccan Gymkhana club and at Fergusson College. American coach J. D. Walsh held his first ''JDBasketball'' India camp in Pune.

American football

The Elite Football League of India (ELFI) – an American gridiron football competition slated for a fall 2012 kickoff – announced that the Pune Marathas will be a member-franchise. When the

Elite Football League of India The Elite Football League of India (EFLI) is a professional American football league based in India. It was founded with eight franchises in 2011, and now has 23 franchises throughout South Asia, among whom 20 located in India, two in Sri Lanka ...

was introduced in August 2011, Pune was noted as one of eight cities to be awarded a team for the inaugural season, although the team's games would be played in Balewadi. All 56 games of EFLI's opening season were to be played at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, which was

retrofitted Retrofitting is the addition of new technology or features to older systems. Retrofits can happen for a number of reasons, for example with big capital expenditures like naval vessels, military equipment or manufacturing plants, businesses or go ...

to host the sport. Named the Pune Marathas, it was Pune's first professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

franchise.

Marathon

Pune International Marathon is an annual marathon foot-race held in Pune. The first edition of the race was begun in 1983, and the 20th edition was held in 2005. It attracts many international participants who compete with local and national runners in the distinct climate of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. It hosted the

Asian Marathon Championship The Asian Marathon Championships is a biennial international competition in marathon road running for Asian athletes. Organised by the Asian Athletics Association, its creation in 1988 followed decision to drop the 42.195-kilometre (26-mile and 385- ...

race in 2010.

Rugby

Pune has a rugby team, men's and women's, registered with the IRFU as Rugby Football Sports Pune (RFS Pune). As of November 2010, RFS Pune has qualified for First Division Rugby, while placing second in the

Callaghan Cup The J. Pius Callaghan Cup is a trophy that was formerly given to the ice hockey junior ice hockey, Junior A Champion of Atlantic Canada from 1981 until 1991. The trophy is named for Joseph Pius Callaghan, sports writer for the Charlottetown Guardia ...

held in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in the same month. Pune offers much promise in this sport. The women's team has been the national cup holder for two consecutive years and thrice since the all India women's 7s 2009. To date, the Pune Women's team has 13 and counting India international players.

Kabaddi

Puneri Paltan Puneri Paltan is a kabaddi team which represents the city of Pune, Maharashtra, India in the Pro Kabaddi League. The team, coached by BC Ramesh, plays at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex. Puneri Paltan, a founding member of the Pro Kab ...

is a Kabaddi team based in Pune that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. The team is currently led by Deepak Niwas Hooda and coached by K.Bhaskaran. The team is owned by Insurekot Sports. Paltan play their home matches at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex.

Darts

International darts player Ashfaque Sayed represented India for the PDC Worldcup telecast live on Ten Sports in 2007.

Derby

The

Pune Race course Pune Race Course is a racecourse located in Pune Cantonment, western India. It is located 5–6 km from downtown Pune and 12–13 km from Pune airport. Built in 1830, it covers . The land is controlled by the Indian Army. Additional st ...

, located in

Pune Cantonment Pune Cantt, also known as Camp, is a military cantonment located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1817 for accommodating troops of the British Indian Army, Indian Army. The cantonment houses many military establishments. It is a ...

, was built in 1830 over of land. The land is controlled by the Indian Army. The racing season is from July to October every year. The

Royal Western India Turf Club Royal Western India Turf Club Ltd. (RWITC) is an exclusive Indian sports club for horse racing, established in 1800. Which runs the Mahalaxmi Racecourse in Mumbai and the Pune Race Course. History The Royal Western India Turf Club has a his ...

manages the race course. The course has two training tracks and two racing surfaces. Major racing events include the Pune Derby, RWITC Invitational, Independence Cup and Southern Command Cup.

Martial arts

Japan Karate-Do Nobukawa-Ha Shito-Ryu Kai India JKNSKI (Shito-Ryu Karate-Do Academy of India) is a direct branch of Japan Karate-Do Nobukawaha Shito-Ryu Kai recognised by Japan Karate-Do Federation. In India the academy is also approved by the Indian National Federation of Karate. The JKNSKI is headed by Naresh Sharma who is an international martial arts title holder and advanced dan grade in the Japanese martial arts.

Gliding

Gliding Centre Pune The Gliding Centre is an undertaking of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Civil Aviation Department, Government of India. It uses two-seater sailplanes, LET L-23 Super Blanik and other LET gliding planes. The flying season starts in October and continues to May or early June. The club is closed during the monsoons. It is open Sunday to Thursday except public holidays, Sundays is an open day for joyrides, and Monday to Thursday are for training.

Others

Garware Balbhavan is a well known playground and a recreational center located in the heart of the Pune city. It has done meaningful work in the field of child development since 1985. Balbhavan is a living institute that seeks to make Pune India's first child-centric city. There are regular batches of roller skating at Balbhavan. The National Education Foundation organises

Enduro3 Enduro3 is India's first and only adventure race. It is organized by an NEF (National Education Foundation) an organization based in Pune. ''Enduro3'' is an adventure inspiring ascent of team spirit, creating youthfulness in every age and exposin ...

, a cross country adventure race in Pune. It is normally a two- or three-day event with activities like cycling, trekking, river-crossing and rifle shooting. The city was host to the

2009 FIVB Men's Junior World Championship The 2009 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship, FIVB Volleyball Men's Junior World Championship was held in Pune, India from 31 July to 9 August 2009. Brazil men's national volleyball team, Brazil won the tournament after defeating Cuba ...

Teams

Sport institutions

Prominent sporting institutions in Pune include the Nehru Stadium, the Deccan Gymkhana,

PYC Hindu Gymkhana PYC or pyc may refer to: * .pyc, filename extension for Python (programming language) * Shatin Pui Ying College, in Sha Tin, Hong Kong * A US Navy hull classification symbol: Patrol yacht, coastal (PYc) See also * Rus (disambiguation) (Cyrillic: ...

Maharashtra Cricket Association Cricket Stadium Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium is a cricket stadium situated in the city of Pune, India besides the Pune Mumbai Expressway nestled between the hills of the Western Ghats. It is the home venue for the Maharashtra cricket team and is ...

and Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex. The Nehru Stadium is the home ground of the Maharashtra cricket team, and has hosted many prominent cricket events, including one of the matches in the

1996 Cricket World Cup The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup 1996 after the Wills Navy Cut brand produced by tournament sponsor ITC, was the sixth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was the second World Cu ...

. A new cricket stadium, Pune International Cricket Centre, is a premier cricket stadium in

Gahunje Gahunje is a village and gram panchayat in Pune district of Maharashtra, India. It is situated in Mawal taluka of Pune district in the state of Maharashtra. It encompasses an area of . It lies on the northwestern border of Pimpri-Chinchwad, ...

on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway near

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

. This is the headquarters for the Maharashtra Cricket Association and home for the Maharashtra cricket team. It is a state-of-the-art stadium and the stadium also hosted the home matches of Sahara Pune Warriors, IPL team of Pune. The Deccan Gymkhana has hosted

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

tennis matches on several occasions. The facility at Balewadi hosted the National Games in 1994 as well as the

. The

Royal Connaught Boat Club The Royal Connaught Boat Club (RCBC) was founded in 1868 in Pune, India. It is located on Boat Club Road. The club provides facilities for water sports, including rowing, with a boathouse and slipway down to the southern side of the Mula-Muth ...

is one of several boating clubs on the Mula-Mutha river.

Sports persons

Cricketers

Ruturaj Gaikwad Ruturaj Dashrat Gaikwad (born 31 January 1997) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for Maharashtra in domestic cricket and for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He made his international debut for the Indi ...

* Hemu Adhikari * Kedar Bhave * Surendra Bhave *

Chandu Borde Chandrakant Gulabrao "Chandu" Borde (born 21 July 1934), is a former cricketer who was a member of the Indian team between 1958 and 1970. Following his retirement, Borde became a cricket administrator, serving as the Chairman of national selec ...

* Ajay Chavan * Soniya Dabir *

Pratik Desai Pratik Desai (born 25 December 1989) is an Indian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and leg-break bowler who plays Mizoram. He had previously played for Maharashtra & Services. He was born in Pune. Desai made his cricketing debut for Maha ...

* D. B. Deodhar * Ganesh Gaikwad * Mahendra Gokhale * Kedar Jadhav *

Hemant Kanitkar Hemant Shamsundar Kanitkar (8 December 1942 – 9 June 2015) was an Indian cricketer who played in two Test matches in 1974. His son, Hrishikesh Kanitkar Hrishikesh Hemant Kanitkar (; born 14 November 1974) is a former Indian crickete ...

* Hrishikesh Kanitkar * Robert Mackenzie * Arvind Mehendale * Balkrishna Mohoni *

Rohit Motwani Rohit Heero Motwani (born 13 December 1990)
ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2013-01-01. is an Indian

* Parag More * Sushil Nadkarni * Ujwala Nikam * Aniruddha Oak * Arthur O'Bree *

Bal Pandit Bal Jagannath Pandit (24 July 1929 – 17 September 2015) was an Indian cricketer, writer and broadcaster. Early life He was born in Pune. He was a right-handed batsman who played for Maharashtra. Playing career Pandit made his cricketing debut ...

Cecil Paris Cecil Gerard Alexander Paris (20 August 1911 in Kirkee, British India – 4 April 1998 in Winchester, Hampshire) was an English first-class cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman who bowled occasional right-arm off spin. In addition Paris was ...

* Snehal Pradhan *

Chandrakant Raut Chandrakant Raut (born 25 August 1945) was an Indian cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium-fast bowler who played for Maharashtra. He was born in Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 u ...

* Cyril Reed *

Chandra Sathe Chandra Kant Sathe (31 October 1947 – 3 August 2017) was an Indian cricket umpire. In his international umpiring career, he stood in five ODI games between 1993 and 2000. See also * List of One Day International cricket umpires This is ...

Mukund Sathe Mukund Sathe (3 March 1937 – 27 November 2015) was an Indian cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium-fast bowler who played for Maharashtra. He was born in Poona, now Pune. Sathe made a single first-class appearance f ...

Lisa Sthalekar Lisa Carprini Sthalekar (born 13 August 1979) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer and captain of the Australia women's national cricket team. In domestic cricket, she represented New South Wales. She was a right-handed all ...

Yogesh Takawale Yogesh Vijay Takawale (born 5 November 1984) is an Indian cricketer. He made his first-class debut in 2005-06 as a specialist batsman for Maharashtra. In 2013–14 he captained Tripura in the Ranji Trophy and scored Tripura's highest first-c ...

Arati Vaidya Arati Vaidya ( hi, आरती वैद्य; born 2 July 1970) is an Indian former cricketer who played as a left-handed batter. She appeared in three Test matches and six One Day Internationals for India between 1995 and 1999. She played do ...

Hockey

* Dhanraj Pillay * Vikram Pillay * Eliza Nelson

Football

Sandesh Gadkari Sandesh Gadkari (born 16 March 1987) is an Indian football player who currently plays as a forward for Mumbai in the I-League. Career Air India During the summer of 2011, Sandesh signed with Air India FC. Salgaocar Gadkari has completed hi ...

* Prakash Thorat * Shrikanth Molangiri

Badminton

* Suman Deodhar * Nikhil Kanetkar *

Aditi Mutatkar Aditi Mutatkar (born 6 October 1987) is an Indian badminton player from Pune, Maharashtra. She won the Silver Medal in Mixed team event in 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi, 2010. She reached her highest rank of 27th in the world when she ...

* Kashmira Joglekar

Tennis

Radhika Tulpule Radhika Tulpule (born 9 February 1982) is an Indian former professional tennis player. Tulpule has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of 473, achieved on 17 September 2001. She also has a career-high WTA doubles ranking of 438, attained ...

Gaurav Natekar Gaurav Natekar (born 4 April 1972) is a seven-time Indian National Tennis Champion. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1996 for Tennis. His father, Nandu M. Natekar, was a national-level Indian badminton champion. Achievements *Represented th ...

* Nitin Kirtane * Ashvarya Shrivastava

Shooting

* Anisa Sayyed

Table tennis

* Meena Parande *

Sujay Ghorpade Sujay Ghorpade (born 10 January 1965) is an Indian table tennis player. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de ...

Chess

Abhijit Kunte Abhijit Kunte (born 3 March 1977 in Pune) is an Indian chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster. Biography He has participated many times in the Indian Chess Championship, winning two gold medals (1997, 2000) and four bronze meda ...

* Soumya Swaminathan * Eesha Karavade *

Kruttika Nadig Kruttika Nadig (born 17 February 1988) is a chess player from Maharashtra, India. She holds the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) and won the Indian national women's championship in 2008. Nadig competed in the Women's World Chess Championship 20 ...

* Prathamesh Mokal * Amruta Mokal

Billiards

* Pankaj Advani * Wilson Jones

Weightlifting

* Ganesh Mali

Adventure

* NK Mahajan

Swimming

Amar Muralidharan Amar Muralidharan is an Indian swimmer who has earned 6 National Titles. He held the 200 M Butterfly & Freestyle National Titles from 2000-2004. He has won a silver medal at the first Afro Asian Games held at Hyderabad India in 2003 and 3 gold ...

Arjun Muralidharan Arjun Muralidharan (born 14 May 1987) is an Indian swimmer who has earned 15 national titles. He is widely considered as one of the greatest butterfly swimmers of India. He has also been the best swimmer in three consecutive Open National Cham ...

Kabaddi

Nitin Ghule Nitin Govardhan Ghule ( Marathi:नितीन घुले) (born 20 May 1986) is an Indian Kabaddi Player. He is a gold medalist in the Guangzhou Asian Games, 2010. He started to play with Adinath Sports club, Bopkhel, Pune since childhood. ...

Basketball

* Eban Hyams

References

{{Pune topics Sport in Pune Sport in Maharashtra