Andhra Pradesh - Sports

Sports

The Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, is the governing body which looks after the infrastructure development in Cricket, Field hockey, Association Football, Olympic weightlifting, Chess, Water Sports, Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis, Cycling etc. Sports like kho kho, kabaddi, chinni daandu and goli (marbles) are played mostly in coastal Andhra & Telangana areas.

One of the most popular sports in Andhra pradesh is cricket. The Hyderabad Cricket Association nurtures potential international players. The Hyderabad cricket team has won the Ranji Trophy twice. The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad and ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam, regularly host international matches. The Deccan Chargers, an Indian Premier League franchise, is based in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.

Notable cricketers from Andhra Pradesh, include C. K. Nayudu, Maharajkumar of Vizianagram, M. V. Narasimha Rao, Mohammad Azharuddin, M. S. K. Prasad, V.V.S. Laxman, Tirumalasetti Suman, Arshad Ayub, Ambati Rayudu, Paul Valthaty, Venkatapathy Raju, Sravanthi Naidu, Yalaka Venugopal Rao etc.

Other accomplished sports-persons include, A. Ramana Rao, Karnam Malleswari, Pullela Gopichand, Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal, Sharath Kamal, Chetan Anand (Badminton), Pradeep (Volley Ball), Mukesh Kumar (Hockey), Abdul Najeeb Qureshi, Jwala Gutta, Raman Subbarao, Kamineni Eswara Rao, etc. Grandmasters in Chess like, Koneru Humpy, Pendyala Harikrishna, Dronavalli Harika and Gogineni Rohit hail from the state.

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