Sports in Pune

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

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (June 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex

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.

## History

[edit]

### Badminton

[edit]

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.[citation needed] The first rules of the game were written in Pune in 1873, by the British.[1]

Pune 7 Aces is the badminton team that represents the city in Premier Badminton League.

### Cricket

[edit]

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. A new stadium Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium built in Gahunje on the Mumbai–Pune expressway, inaugurated on 1 April 2012, is the home ground. The Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium has a seating capacity of 55,000 and is built on the Mumbai Pune Expressway. 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.[2] 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 and located in the quaint Sahakar Nagar.[3]

### Football

[edit]

Pune FC

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

[edit]

Pune has basketball at the Deccan Gymkhana club and at Fergusson College.[4] American coach J. D. Walsh held his first JDBasketball India camp in Pune.[5]

### American football

[edit]

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 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 to host the sport. Named the Pune Marathas, it was Pune's first professional American football franchise.[6][7]

### Marathon

[edit]

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. It hosted the Asian Marathon Championship race in 2010.

### Rugby

[edit]

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 held in Chennai 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

[edit]

Puneri Paltan 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

[edit]

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

### Derby

[edit]

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 Southern Command Cup.[8]

### Japanese Martial arts Karate

[edit]

Japan Karate-Do Nobukawa-Ha Shito-Ryu Kai India JKNSKI Japan Karatedo Shito-Ryu International Renshikan is a direct branch of Japan Karate-Do Nobukawaha Shito-Ryu Kai recognised in Japan. Nobukawa member of Japan Karate-Do Federation, Asian Karate Federation and World Karate Federation. 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Garware Balbhavan[9] 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, 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.[10] The city was host to the 2009 FIVB Men's Junior World Championship.

## Teams

[edit]

Sport  | Club  | League  | Venue  | Status

|
|
|
|

Cricket | Pune Warriors India | Indian Premier League | Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium | Defunct
Rising Pune Supergiant | Defunct
Maharashtra Cricket Team | Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy | Active
Veer Marathi | Celebrity Cricket League | Active
Sinhagad Supremos | Maharashtra Premier League  | Deccan Gymkhana Ground | Active
Football | Pune FC | I-League | Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex | Defunct
Bharat FC | Active
FC Pune City | Indian Super League | Defunct
DSK Shivajians F.C. | I-League 2nd Division | Active
Badminton | Pune 7 Aces | Premier Badminton League | Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex  | Defunct
Pune Pistons | Indian Badminton League | Defunct
Field Hockey | Pune Strykers | World Series Hockey | PCMC Hockey Stadium | Defunct
Kabbadi | Puneri Paltan | Pro Kabaddi League | Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex  | Active
Lawn Tennis | Pune Marathas | Champions Tennis League | Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex  | Active
Basketball | Pune Peshwas | UBA Pro Basketball League | Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex  | Active
Table Tennis | Puneri Paltan T.T. | Ultimate Table Tennis | Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex  | Active
American Football | Pune Marathas | Elite Football League of India | Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex  | Active
Karate | Pune[11] | Japan Karatedo Shito-Ryu International Renshikan  | Pune, Maharashtra  | Active

## Sport institutions

[edit]

Further information: Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex

Prominent sporting institutions in Pune include the Nehru Stadium, the Deccan Gymkhana, PYC Hindu Gymkhana, Maharashtra Cricket Association Cricket Stadium 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.

A new cricket stadium, Pune International Cricket Centre, is a premier cricket stadium in Gahunje on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway near Pune. 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.[12]

The Deccan Gymkhana has hosted Davis Cup tennis matches on several occasions. The facility at Balewadi hosted the National Games in 1994 as well as the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games.

The Royal Connaught Boat Club is one of several boating clubs on the Mula-Mutha river.

The most authentic and international organization, representative of Japanese organization from birthplace of karate is Japan Karatedo Shito-Ryu International Renshikan [13] It focuses on High standards & quality instructions to people of all age groups. International certifications with quality control.

## Sports persons

[edit]

### Cricketers

[edit]

* Ruturaj Gaikwad
* Hemu Adhikari
* Kedar Bhave
* Surendra Bhave
* Chandu Borde
* Ajay Chavan
* Soniya Dabir
* Pratik Desai
* D. B. Deodhar
* Ganesh Gaikwad
* Mahendra Gokhale
* Kedar Jadhav
* Hemant Kanitkar
* Hrishikesh Kanitkar
* Robert Mackenzie
* Arvind Mehendale
* Balkrishna Mohoni
* Rohit Motwani
* Parag More
* Sushil Nadkarni
* Ujwala Nikam
* Aniruddha Oak
* Arthur O'Bree
* Bal Pandit
* Cecil Paris
* Snehal Pradhan
* Chandrakant Raut
* Cyril Reed
* Chandra Sathe
* Mukund Sathe
* Lisa Sthalekar
* Yogesh Takawale
* Arati Vaidya

### Hockey

[edit]

* Dhanraj Pillay
* Vikram Pillay
* Eliza Nelson

### Football

[edit]

* Sandesh Gadkari
* Prakash Thorat
* Shrikanth Molangiri

### Badminton

[edit]

* Suman Deodhar
* Nikhil Kanetkar
* Aditi Mutatkar
* Kashmira Joglekar

### Tennis

[edit]

* Radhika Tulpule
* Gaurav Natekar
* Nitin Kirtane
* Ashvarya Shrivastava

### Shooting

[edit]

* Anisa Sayyed

### Table tennis

[edit]

* Meena Parande
* Sujay Ghorpade

### Chess

[edit]

* Abhijit Kunte
* Soumya Swaminathan
* Eesha Karavade
* Kruttika Nadig
* Prathamesh Mokal
* Amruta Mokal

### Billiards

[edit]

* Pankaj Advani
* Wilson Jones

### Weightlifting

[edit]

* Ganesh Mali

### Adventure

[edit]

* NK Mahajan

### Swimming

[edit]

* Amar Muralidharan
* Arjun Muralidharan

### Kabaddi

[edit]

* Nitin Ghule

### Basketball

[edit]

* Eban Hyams

### Japanese Martial Arts Karate

[edit]

* Naresh Sharma

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Phillips, Rachel (7 May 2002). "Badminton – From Where did it originate?". Badders.com: The Independent Voice of Badminton. Archived from the original on 2 May 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
2. ^ Pune Warriors India – The Team Archived 2013-03-17 at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ "Blades of Glory: Cricket history in a room". Wisden India. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
4. ^ "Pune Basketball". Open Salon. Archived from the original on 25 October 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
5. ^ "J D Walsh – Press release point".
6. ^ "Topic Galleries". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013.
7. ^ Sean Gregory (4 August 2011). "'They Need TV Product': Why American Football Is Coming To India". Time.
8. ^ "RWITC – The Pune Race Course". Archived from the original on 23 February 2010.
9. ^ Garware Balbhavan
10. ^ "Pump up the adrenaline – Pune Times". Times of India. 23 January 2003.
11. ^ https://www.karatedoindia.com
12. ^ Singh, Ramendra (11 January 2011). "Wrong 'un on e way". Pune Mirror. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
13. ^ "Karate-Do India Official Website – Japan Karate-Do Shito-Ryu International Renshikan – Nobukawa-Ha Shito-Ryu Kai-India | Japan Karate-Do Shito-Ryu International Renshikan". Retrieved 29 August 2024.

* v
* t
* e

Pune topics

History|

* Maratha Empire

Geography|

| Hills and passes|

* Baner Hill
* Chaturshringi Hill
* Parvati Hill
* Taljai Hills
* Vetal Hill
* Katraj Ghat

|

Waterbodies|

* Mutha River
* Mula River
* Mula-Mutha River
* Pavana River
* Ramnadi
* Peacock Bay
* Katraj Lake
* Pashan Lake

Landmarks|

| Palaces and forts|

* Shaniwar Wada
* Vishrambaug Wada
* Shinde Chhatri
* Aga Khan Palace
* Balbharati
* Lal Mahal
* Sinhagad

|

Temples|

* Puneshwar
* Narayaneshwar
* Pataleshwar
* Kasba Ganapati
* Dagadusheth Halwai Ganapati Temple
* Chaturshringi Temple
* Dashabhuja Ganapati Temple, Pune

Museums|

* Blades of Glory Cricket Museum
* Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History
* Joshi's Museum of Miniature Railway
* Mahatma Phule Museum
* National War Museum
* Pune Tribal Museum
* Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum

Parks|

* Bund Garden
* Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park
* Shunyo Park
* Sarasbaug
* Shahid Major Pradeep Tathawade Udyan
* Kamala Nehru Park
* Pu La Deshpande Udyan
* Baner-Pashan Biodiversity Park
* Peshwe Park
* Pimpri Chinchwad Science Park

Others|

* Bal Gandharva Ranga Mandir
* Tilak Smarak Ranga Mandir
* Yashwantrao Chavan Natya Gruha
* Pune Aitihasik Vastu Smriti
* Budhwar Peth, Pune

Civic|

* Pune Metropolitan Region
* Pune Municipal Corporation
* Mayor
* Pune Cantonment Board
* Khadki Cantonment Board
* Pune Police

Transport|

| Air|

| Commercial|

* New Pune Airport
* Pune Airport

|

Gliding|

* Hadapsar Airport

Rail|

| Systems|

* Pune Suburban Railway
* Pune Metro
* Pune Monorail

|

Stations|

* Pune Junction
* Daund Junction
* Other stations

Road|

| Major roads|

* National Highway 48 (India)
* National Highway 65 (India)
* National Highway 60 (India)
* State Highway 27 (Maharashtra)
* Mumbai–Pune Expressway

|

Ring roads|

* High-capacity mass transit route, Pune (proposed)
* Inner Ring Road, Pune (proposed)
* Outer Ring Road, Pune (proposed)

Bus|

* Pune Station Bus Stand
* Swargate bus station
* Rainbow Bus Rapid Transit System
* Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited
* Pune Bus Pravasi Sangh

Economy|

* Mahathma Phule Mandai
* Market Yard
* Tulshibaug
* International Convention Centre

Education|

* Savitribai Phule Pune University
* BMCC
* Spicer Adventist University
* Symbiosis International University
* Bharati Vidyapeeth
* Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune
* National Chemical Laboratory
* National Defence Academy
* Armed Forces Medical College
* Deccan College
* CACPE
* College of Engineering
* International Institute of Information Technology, Pune
* Fergusson University
* ILS Law College
* Film and Television Institute of India

Culture|

* Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Festival
* Vasantotsav

Sports|

| Events|

| Multi-sport|

* 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games

|

World championships|

* 2008 BWF World Junior Championships
* 2009 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship
* 2009 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship for Women
* 2011 Roll Ball World Cup
* 2013 Asian Athletics Championships

Others|

* Pune Marathon
* 2009 NECC–ITF Women's Tennis Championships
* KPIT MSLTA Challenger
* Royal Indian Open

Teams|

| American football|

* Pune Marathas

|

Badminton|

* Pune Pistons

Cricket|

* Pune Warriors India
* Rising Pune Supergiant
* Maharashtra cricket team
* Veer Marathi

Field hockey|

* Pune Strykers

Football|

* FC Pune City
* Pune F.C.
* DSK Shivajians FC

Kabbadi|

* Puneri Paltan

Tennis|

* Pune Marathas

Venues|

| Stadiums|

* Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex
* CAFVD Sports Stadium
* Nehru Stadium, Pune
* Rajendrasinhji Stadium
* Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium
* Pune District Football Association Stadium
* Rajendrasinhji Stadium

|

Others|

* Poona Gymkhana Ground
* Pune Race Course
* Deccan Gymkhana Ground
* Pune Club Ground
* Royal Connaught Boat Club
* Mahesh Bhupathi Tennis Academy

Personalities|

| History|

* Shivaji
* Balaji Vishwanath
* Bajirao
* Balaji Baji Rao
* Madhavrao Ballal
* Narayan Rao
* Raghunathrao
* Sawai Madhavrao
* Baji Rao II
* Nana Saheb
* Senapati Bapat
* Mahadev Govind Ranade
* Bal Gangadhar Tilak
* Chandrashekhar Agashe
* Gopal Ganesh Agarkar
* Chapekar brothers

|

Art and literature|

* Pu La Deshpande
* Babasaheb Purandare
* Mangesh Tendulkar
* Pralhad Keshav Atre
* Sandeep Khare

Music|

* Bhimsen Joshi
* Vasantrao Deshpande
* Rahul Deshpande
* Saleel Kulkarni
* Anand Bhate
* Prabha Atre
* Sanjeev Abhyankar
* Hrishikesh Ranade

Neighbourhoods|

* v
* t
* e

Neighbourhoods of Pune

Central Pune|

* Kalyani Nagar
* Koregaon Park
* Shivajinagar
* Bund Garden
* Peths in Pune

North Pune|

* Lohagaon
* Viman Nagar
* Vishrantwadi
* Yerawada

Pimpri Chinchwad
North-West Pune|

* Bhosari
* Chinchwad
* Dehu Road Cantonment
* Dapodi
* Hinjawadi
* Kalewadi
* Pimple Gurav
* Pimple Saudagar
* Pimpri
* Punawale
* Rahatani
* Ravet
* Sangvi
* Sant Tukaram Nagar
* Wakad
* Thergaon

West Pune|

* Aundh
* Balewadi
* Baner
* Bavdhan
* Khadki cantonment
* Pashan
* Pirangut

East Pune|

* Camp
* Hadapsar
* Kharadi
* Manjri
* Mundwa
* Magarpatta
* Wanowrie

South Pune|

* Kothrud
* Karvenagar
* Katraj
* Dhayari
* Nanded
* Sus
* Swargate
* Warje

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template