The 9th Asian Games were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of the Olympic Council of Asia. Delhi joined Bangkok as the cities to host multiple editions of the Asian Games up to this point. Later, Jakarta and Doha would enter this group.
Sport in Pakistan is a significant part of Pakistani culture. Cricket is the most popular sport in Pakistan, while field hockey, polo, and squash are also popular. Traditional sports like kabaddi and other well-known games are also played. The Pakistan Sports Board was created in 1962 by the Ministry of Education as a corporate body for the purposes of promoting and developing uniform standards of competition in sports in Pakistan comparable to the standards prevailing internationally, and regulating and controlling sports in Pakistan on a national basis. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, now has control over the Pakistan Sports Board. The PSB controls all 39 sporting federations. The Pakistan Sports Board is supported by the Pakistan Sports Trust, which assists hard up players and associations so they can continue participating in sports.
The India men's national field hockey team represents India in international field hockey competitions, and is governed by Hockey India. The team was formerly under the control of Indian Hockey Federation. India was the first non-European team to be a part of the International Hockey Federation. In 1928, the team won its first Olympic gold medal and until 1960, the Indian men's team remained unbeaten in the Olympics, winning six gold medals in a row. The team had a 30–0 winning streak during this time, from their first game in 1928 until the 1960 gold medal final which they lost. India also won the World Cup in 1975. India's hockey team is the most successful team ever in the Olympics, having won a total of eight gold medals – in 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964 and 1980. India also has the best overall performance in Olympic history with 83 victories out of the 134 matches played. They have also scored more goals in the Olympics than any other team. They are also the only team ever to win the Olympics without conceding a single goal, having done so in 1928 and 1956.
The Pakistan national field hockey team represents Pakistan in international field hockey. Having played its first match in 1948, it is administered by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), the governing body for hockey in Pakistan. It has been a member of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) since 1948 and was founding member of the Asian Hockey Federation (ASHF), which was formed in 1958. Pakistan is one of the most successful national field hockey teams in the world with a record four Hockey World Cup wins.
Association football is the most popular sport in almost all Asian countries. Cricket is the second most popular sport in Asia, and is most popular in South Asia. Other popular sports in Asia include baseball, basketball, badminton and table tennis among others. There are also some traditional sports that are popular in certain regions of Asia, such as the traditional South Asian sports of kabaddi and kho-kho. Top sporting nations/regions in Asia include China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The Indian women's national field hockey team represents India in international field hockey, and is governed by Hockey India. Nabhvarna are currently ranked 6th in the FIH World Rankings, and are ranked as the best team in Asia. They have won the gold medals at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and 1982 Asian Games. They have also won the Women's Asia Cup twice, i.e. in 2004 and 2017. They also won the Asian Champions Trophy in 2016.
Sport is a significant part of life in India. The country has a sports history tracing back thousands of years, with sports being a part of tradition, culture, finance and entertainment. People in India closely follow various sports and enthusiastically participate in them. Cricket is the most popular spectator sport in the country, it generates the highest television viewership, and features full-capacity audiences in stadiums during international and Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. In recent decades, football has also become another popular sport in terms of broadcast viewership and stadium audience attendance. The Indian Super League (ISL), is the highest league of football in India. ISL and national team's matches attract considerable audience in stadium and on TV. The national football team has won two Gold medals at the Asian games, three Gold medals at the South Asian Games and one silver at the Asian Cup held in 1964 in Israel by virtue of their runner-up position, reached the semifinal of the 1960 Olympics, qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup and has won the SAFF Championship record number of times.
The 2010 South Asian Games, officially the XI South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event that took place from 29 January to 8 February 2010 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This was the third time that the Bangladeshi capital hosted the South Asian Games, thus becoming the first city to hold the games three times.
The India men's national volleyball team represents India in international volleyball competitions. It is managed by the Volleyball Federation of India and is currently sponsored by Sahara India Pariwar and Asics.
The India national kabaddi team represents India in international men's kabaddi competitions. The team is by far the most successful national kabaddi side of any country, winning gold medals at the Asian Games in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014, as well as winning all three Kabaddi World Cup events to date. Pawan Sehrawat the current captain of the team after Deepak Niwas Hooda was suffering from bad form in PKL 9.
The Pakistan national handball team is controlled by the Pakistan Handball Federation and represents Pakistan in international tournaments.
Pakistan is a member of the South Asian Zone of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), has participated in the Asian Games since their second edition in 1954. The Pakistan Olympic Association, established in 1948, and recognised in the same year by the International Olympic Committee, is the National Olympic Committee for Pakistan.
Handball in India is controlled by the Handball Association India. It was founded by Jagat Singh Lohan from Rohtak, Haryana, who was an alumnus of YMCA College of Physical Education of Madras. His efforts during Munich Olympics helped in establishing HFI. The member states were Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Vidharbha and Jammu and Kashmir. He was also elected as first secretary general of Handball Federation of India.
Kabaddi, is a contact sport, native to the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the most popular sports in India, played mainly among people in villages. India has taken part in four Asian Games in kabaddi, and won gold in all of them. Four forms of kabaddi played in India are Amar, Suranjeevi, huttuttoo, and Gaminee. Amar is generally played in Punjab, Haryana, the United States, Canada, and other parts of the world, mostly by Punjabi sportsmen. Suranjeevi is the most played form of kabaddi in India and the world. This is the form used in international matches generally and played in Asian Games. Huttuttoo was played by men in Maharashtra. In Gaminee style, seven players play on each side and a player put out has to remain out until all his team members are out. The team that is successful in outing all the players of the opponent's side secures a point. The game continues until five or seven such points are secured and has no fixed time duration.
Sport in Bangladesh is a popular form of entertainment as well as an essential part of Bangladeshi culture. Cricket is the most popular sport in Bangladesh followed by football. Ha-du-du is the national sport of Bangladesh.
Squash is a popular recreational sport in India, and is gaining popularity as a competitive sport. It is governed by the Squash Rackets Federation of India. The India men's national squash team has participated in three quarter finals of the World Team Squash Championships since 1967.
The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which took place from 5 February to 16 February 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India. A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 sports. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 2016 South Asian Games in Guwahati on 5 February 2016. India continued its dominance in the game's medal tally with a staggering 308 medals including 188 gold medals.
The 2019 South Asian Games, officially the XIII South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event which was originally slated to be held from 9 to 18 March 2019 in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal. However, the dates were postponed and the event was held from 1–10 December 2019, coincidentally at the same time as the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines. The new dates were confirmed at the South Asian Olympic Council Executive Board meeting in Bangkok on 1 March 2019. The Dasarath Stadium hosted the opening ceremony along with the men's football tournament, with the stadium's renovation after the 2015 earthquake completed in under 10 months with an increased capacity of 20,000, along with the closing ceremony on 10 December.
India competed at the 2016 Asian Beach Games held in Danang, Vietnam from 24 September to 3 October 2016. The Indian Olympic Association sent a larger contingent than the previous game as 208 athletes participated in 13 different games at the fifth edition of beach games. India finished at 16th position, winning 2 Gold, 4 Silver and 18 Bronze medals.N. Ramachandran, president of Indian Olympic Association, received an OCA Award of Merit by the Olympic Council of Asia for his contributions to sports in Asia at Danang on 25 September 2016.
Muhammad Shafiq is a Pakistani sports administrator and former track and field sprinter. He is 3rd and current Secretary General of Asian Handball Federation (AHF) since 25 October 2013. He is also holds the position of President in Pakistan Handball Federation since 2012.
