Pune - Sports and Recreation

Sports and Recreation

See also: Pune FC, Pune Race course, and Pune Warriors India

Popular games and sports in Pune include athletics, cricket, basketball, badminton, field hockey, football, tennis, kabaddi, Paragliding, kho-kho, rowing and chess. The Pune International Marathon is an annual marathon conducted in Pune. The 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games were held in Pune.

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, competes in interstate matches and leagues, such as the Ranji Trophy. 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.

An Indian Premier League cricket team based in Pune began play in 2011. The team is named as 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 it is owned by Sahara Group. It is captained by Sourav Ganguly and includes players like Yuvraj Singh, Michael Clarke, Graeme Smith, Ashish Nehra and Robin Uthappa. A new stadium Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium built in Gahunje on Mumbai – Pune express way, inaugurated on 1 April 2012, is the Home Ground of Pune Warriors.The Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium has a seating capacity of 55,000 and is built on the Mumbai Pune Expressway.

Blades of Glory, India’s first cricket museum, is based out of Pune. Run by Rohan Pate, a former Maharashtra Under-19 cricketer, inaugurated during IPL V by Sachin Tendulkar and located in the quaint Sahakar Nagar.

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

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

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

The National Education Foundation organises Enduro3, 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 has been host to the 2009 FIVB Men's Junior World Championship.

The Pune Race course, located in Pune Cantonment, was built in 1830 over 118.5 acres (0.480 km2) 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 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 the Southern Command Cup.

The beginnings of badminton 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.

Club	Sport	League	Venue
Pune Warriors India	Cricket	Indian Premier League	Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium
Maharashtra cricket team	Cricket	Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy	Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium
Pune F.C.	Football	I-League	Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex
Pune Strykers	Field Hockey	World Series Hockey	PCMC Hockey Stadium
Pune Marathas	American Football	Elite Football League of India	Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex