Sports in India include cricket, chess, badminton, field hockey, tennis, association football and golf. Field Hockey is the official national sport in India, and the country has eight olympic gold medals in field hockey, though cricket is the most popular. Other popular sports include football, tennis, volleyball, and badminton. After the 1982 Asian Games hosted in New Delhi, the capital city now has modern sports facilities, and similar facilities are also being developed in other parts of the country.

Besides sports and games included in the international sporting agenda, there are many which have developed indigenously. indian badminton sensation Saina Nehwal went on to win the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold Open badminton tournament by beating Cheah Li Ya Lydia of Malaysia clinching her second Grand Prix tournament win. World No. 14 Saina Nehwal has been in top form in the past one year. Even in the Olympics she had done India proud by making it to the quarter finals only to lose to her opponent Maria Yulianti of Indonesia.

Nehwal, after her performance in the first two rounds of the Beijing Olympics had raised the hopes of the Indians of winning an Olympic medal in the sport of badminton. The word sports inculcate in our minds, the image of a well-toned body, sweating it out in a huge ground. Rarely do we think of a sport not involving the body, but the mind. Known as the unseen sport, defined as a recreational and competitive game played between two players, Chess is undoubtedly, the most interesting brain game of all times. In India, chess is synonymous with Vishwanathan Anand.

However, the times are changing, and so are the faces and names. India’s present day chess scenario is full of young talents making it big internationally; and the leader of this young brigade is a player whose name does not need an introduction, Tania Sachdev. In the area of recreation and sports India had evolved a number of games. One would be surprised to know today that games like, Chess, Snakes and Ladders, Playing Cards, Polo, the martial arts of Judo and Karate had originated as a sport in India and it was from here that these games were transmitted to foreign countries, where they were further modernized.

The Indian Grand Prix ( sometimes referred to as the Grand Prix of India) is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. The first event took place on 30 October 2011 as the 17th race of the 2011 Formula One season,[1] The new race track was officially homologated on 1 September 2011 by Charlie Whiting, and the inaugural race was won by Germany’s Sebastian Vettel.

India has hosted or co-hosted several international sporting events, such as the 1951 Asian Games and the 1982 Asian Games, the 1987 Cricket World Cup and 1996 Cricket World Cup, the 2003 Afro-Asian Games, the 2010 Hockey World Cup, the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Major international sporting events annually held in India include the Chennai Open, Mumbai Marathon,Delhi Half Marathon and the Indian Masters. India is also scheduled to host the first Indian Grand Prix in 2011.

India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, with a lone athlete (Norman Pritchard) winning two medals in athletics. The nation first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920, and has participated in every Summer Games since then. India has also competed at several Winter Olympic Games since 1964. India had won total 20 medals at Olympic Games. India won its first gold medal in Men’s Field hockey in 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games. Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games and India’s first gold medal since 1980, when the Men’s Field Hockey Team won the gold.