Sports & Recreation :
Popular games and sports in Pune include athletics, cricket, basketball, badminton, field hockey, soccer, tennis, kabaddi, 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 to the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA), 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.
Prominent sporting institutions in Pune include the Nehru Stadium, the Deccan Gymkhana, PYC Hindu Gymkhana and the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex at Balewadi. 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. The Deccan Gymkhana has hosted Davis Cup matches on several occasions.
The facility at Balewadi hosted the National Games in 1994, and also successfully hosted the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games. The Royal Connaught Boat Club is one of several boating clubs on the Mula-Mutha river. A new cricket stadium, the Pune International Cricket Centre, is to be constructed by 2010, near Mahalunge village on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. |
The official mascot of Commonwealth Youth Games 2008
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