Sports
See also: List of stadiums in Hyderabad, IndiaCricket and association football are the most popular sports in Hyderabad. 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. The Swarnandhra Pradesh Sports Complex is a venue for field hockey, and the G.M.C. Balayogi Stadium in Gachibowli serves as a venue for athletics and football.
The Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium and the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium host cricket matches; the latter serves as the home ground of Hyderabad Cricket Association. Hyderabad has been the venue of many international cricket matches, including matches in the 1987, 1996 and 2011 Cricket World Cups. The Hyderabad cricket team represents the city in the Ranji Trophy, a first-class cricket tournament among India's states and cities. The Deccan Chargers, a cricket franchise in the Indian Premier League, won the 2009 Indian Premier League held in South Africa.
The city houses many elite clubs formed by the Nizams and the British, such as the Secunderabad Club, the Nizam Club and the Hyderabad Race Club, which is known for its horse racing, especially the annual Deccan derby. The Andhra Pradesh Motor Sports Club organises popular events such as the Deccan 1/4 Mile Drag, TSD Rallies and 4x4 off-road rallying. The Hyderabad Golf Club has an eighteen-hole golf course. Notable international sportspeople from Hyderabad include: cricketers Ghulam Ahmed, M. L. Jaisimha, Mohammed Azharuddin, V. V. S. Laxman, Venkatapathy Raju, Shivlal Yadav, Arshad Ayub and Noel David; football players Syed Abdul Rahim, Syed Nayeemuddin and Shabbir Ali; tennis player Sania Mirza; badminton players S. M. Arif, Pullela Gopichand, Saina Nehwal, Jwala Gutta and Chetan Anand; hockey players Syed Mohammad Hadi and Mukesh Kumar; and bodybuilder Mir Mohtesham Ali Khan.
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Famous quotes containing the word sports:
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—Lesley Visser, U.S. sports reporter and announcer. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 82 (June 17, 1991)
“It is usual for a Man who loves Country Sports to preserve the Game in his own Grounds, and divert himself upon those that belong to his Neighbour.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
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—Gayle Gardner, U.S. sports reporter. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 87 (June 17, 1991)