The most popular sports played in Hyderabad[1] are cricket and association football.[2] At the professional level, the city has hosted national and international sporting events.
The city had produced highest number of Olympian footballers in India. Field hockey and cricket are popular among the current generation and apart from modern sports the Indian traditional wrestling (known as Kushti or Pehlwani) is popular among all group of people in Hyderabad.
During the rule of the Nizams of Hyderabad, the Nizams as well as the nobility patronized the games. The sixth Nizam, or Asaf Jah VI was fond of horse racing and established the Hyderabad Race Club in 1868.
A Paigah nobleman, Moin ud-Dowlah established the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament in 1930.
Football became the most popular sport in Hyderabad during the "Golden Period" from the 1950s to the 1970s. During this period, Hyderabad-based players formed the nucleus of the Indian Football Team.[3] The prominent players of this time include Syed Abdul Rahim, Peter Thangaraj and Shabbir Ali.
At the professional level, the city has hosted national and international sports events such as the 2002 National Games of India, the 2003 Afro-Asian Games, the 2004 AP Tourism Hyderabad Open women's tennis tournament, the 2007 Military World Games, the 2009 World Badminton Championships and the 2009 IBSF World Snooker Championship.
Regular events held in Hyderabad are; Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament and Deccan Derby.
The city is set to host the Hyderabad ePrix from 2022 onwards, as a part of the Formula E calendar[4]
International-level sportspeople from Hyderabad include: cricketers Ghulam Ahmed, M. L. Jaisimha, mahesh devnani, Mohammed Azharuddin, V. V. S. Laxman, Venkatapathy Raju, Shivlal Yadav, Arshad Ayub, Syed Abid Ali, Mithali Raj and Noel David; football players Syed Abdul Rahim, Syed Khaja Moinuddin, Syed Nayeemuddin and Shabbir Ali; tennis player Sania Mirza; badminton players S. M. Arif, Pullela Gopichand, Saina Nehwal, P. V. Sindhu, Jwala Gutta and Chetan Anand; hockey players Syed Mohammad Hadi and Mukesh Kumar; rifle shooters Gagan Narang and Asher Noria and bodybuilder Mir Mohtesham Ali Khan.[5][6][7] Abbas Ali Baig. He played ten test matches in a career spanning 21 years, he scored 12,367 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 34.16.
The Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium.[8][9] The new Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium has a capacity of 55,000 spectators,[10] including an ultra-modern gymnasium along with a swimming pool. It has been recently accorded Test match status by the International Cricket Council.[11] and serves as a home ground of Hyderabad Cricket Association.
The Swarnandhra Pradesh Sports Complex and the G. M. C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium at Gachibowli are associated specially for hockey and football.[12] SAAP Tennis Complex has a central court that holds 4000 spectators and has seven courts with synthetic surface,[13] a sophisticated Velodrome for cycling at Osmania University.[12] The Saroornagar Indoor Arena and The KBR Stadium are multi-purpose indoor sports facilities for,[14] ping-pong, basketball, equestrianism, boxing, weightlifting, gymnastics, archery, sepak takraw and shooting. The Aquatics Complex Stadium at Gachibowli, can host all water sports and synchronized events, with a capacity of 3000 spectators.[15] Water games like rowing, yachting, kayaking, and canoeing are conducted at Hussain Sagar lake. The city also has five Go-Karting tracks and a Paint Ball Field.
