Football Tournaments in India

The fact that some of the world's oldest football tournaments are played in
India underlines the rich legacy of the game in the country. Over the years, these
tournaments, played throughout the year, have been playing host to the skills of
India's aspiring footballers.

While Durand Cup, IFA Shield and Federation Cup are major club competitions,
Santosh Trophy features various Indian states. But ever since the National Football
League has been launched by the AIFF with much fanfare, these prestigious
tournaments have been subjected to step-motherly treatment from the football
governing body.

Here is a list of domestic football tournaments in India:

 IFA Shield
 Durand Cup
 Federation Cup
 Santosh Trophy
 Nehru Cup
 Subroto Cup

Other National Tournaments

 Dr.B.C.Roy Trophy ,
 Mir lqbal Hussain Trophy,
 Dutta Roy Trophy,
 Trades Cup

Cricket Tournaments in India

The domestic cricket tournaments in India are a high quality affair with
aspiring cricketers vying to grab the attention of national cricketers. All the
competitions are conducted under the aegis of the Board of Control for Cricket
(BCCI) in India.

The Ranji Trophy was launched as the "Cricket Championship of India" at a meeting
of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in July 1934. The first Ranji Trophy fixtures
took place in 1934-35 with Bombay walking away with the top honours.

The Irany Trophy was conceived during the 1959-60 season to commemorate the
25th year of the Ranji Trophy championship. The tournament was named after the
late Z. R. Irani, who was associated with the Board of Control for Cricket in India
since its inception in 1928.

The Duleep Trophy, named after Kumar Shri Duleepsinghji, was launched by the
BCCI to espouse more competition in the Indian cricket arena. The tournament was
proposed to help the national selectors in assessing the form of the cricketers.

Here is a list of cricket tournaments in India:

 Ranji Trophy
 Duleep Trophy
 Deodhar Trophy
 Irani Trophy
 Challenger Trophy

Other International Cricket

 Prudential World Cup

 Asia Cup Benson and Hedges World Championship

 Rothmans Trophy

 Sharjah Cup

 Hero Cup

 Singer Cup

 ICC Champions Trophy

 World cup

Hockey Tournaments in India

The Indian hockey tournaments are played throughout the year and are conducted
under the aegis of the Indian Hockey federation.

Here is a list of major hockey competitions in India:

 All India MCC Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament
 All India Aagha Khan Hockey Tournament
 All India Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey Tournament
 All India Beighton Cup Hockey Tournament
 Obaidullah Khan Gold Cup

Lawn Tennis

The game started in India in the late 19th century. The first All India Championships
in Tennis were held in 1910, in which both men and women took part. India reached
the top challenging position in the Davis Cup Tournament, a couple of times. Several
Indians made an impression on the tennis courts. Sleem, Deane, Ranga Rao, S. M.
Hadi, E. V. Bobb, P. L. Mehta, Brooke Edwards and Balagopalan were among the
pioneers of Indian tennis. Among women, Leila Rao, Jenny Sanderson, Kusum
Mehta and Khanum Haji were the celebrated stars.

Ramanathan Krishnan with Naresh Kumar was a great force in the doubles, winning
the National and the Asian Championships a number of times. The Amritraj brothers -
Vijay and Anand proved to be among the best pairs in doubles.

Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes became the first doubles team to reach four
Grand Slam finals. They won French Open and Wimbledon.

Tennis Tournaments in India

India's growing stature in world tennis is exemplified by the number of ATP tennis
tournaments being played in India. Top-flight tennis pros come to India to participate
in these tennis tournaments.

Here is a list of Indian tennis tournaments:

 ATP Tour tennis events in India

 Gold Flake Open

 TATA Open
  Bangalore Open
 Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open
 Sun feast Open
 Indian Open Tennis

Other international Tournament

 Australian Open
 Davis Cup
 Fed Cup
 Wimbledon

Table Tennis Federation of India

The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) is the central governing body for
table tennis in India. The TTFI was formed in Calcutta in 1937 with four state
association affiliated to it. During the fledgling years, T. D. Ranga Ramanujan played
an important role in strengthening the federation.

Over the years, the TTFI, born as All India Table Tennis Association, has grown in
size and boasts of an impressive number of affiliated associations. TTFI envisages
two types of membership: the state associations and institutional members such as
Indian Railways, Petroleum Sports Promotion Board and Bank Sports Board.

In its bid to promote table tennis in India and ensure quality competition, the TTFI
holds national table tennis championships and coaching camps. The institutional
members hold the institutional and inter unit championships and offer employment to
the promising youngster of the country.

Basketball

Basketball is primarily a school sport in India. FIBA is a world basketball tournament

for men's national teams held quadrennially by the International Basketball
Federation (FIBA).
A parallel event for women's teams, the FIBA World Championship for Women, is
also held quadrennially, in the same year as the men's event but in a different
country.

The champion team wins the Naismith Trophy, which was first awarded in the 1967
tournament.

The tournament structure is similar but not identical to that of the FIFA World Cup;
both of these international competitions have been played in the same year since
1970. FIBA has organized a World Championship for men since 1950 and a World
Championship for Women since 1953. Both events are now held every four years,
alternating with the Olympics.

In 1989, FIBA opened the door to Olympic participation by professionals such as

players from the NBA in the United States.

 P.D. Chidambaram Sourya Narayanan Memorial Trophy

 Commonwealth Championship
 Asian Championship
 Asian club Championship
 William Jones cup

Other international Tournaments

 Asian Champions Cup

 Africa Cup of Clubs
 FIBA Americas
 FIBA Asia
 World Championships
 World Cup
 Olympic
 FIBA Euro cup
 ULEB Cup
 SAARC International Basketball Championship
 FIBA-ASIA Basketball Championship
Volleyball

Volleyball is a sport played all over India, both in rural as well as urban India. It is
a popular recreation sport. India is ranked 5th in Asia and 27th in world rankings.
Recently India won the Asian central zone championships beating high-ranked teams
like Kazakhstan and Iran. India is doing well in the youth and junior levels, having
secured 2nd in the 2003 World youth championships.
 Asian Senior Volleyball Championship
 Asian Junior Volleyball Championship
 Asian Youth Volleyball Championship
 AVC Club Championships
 Olympic
 World Championship

Archery

Archery is the art of shooting arrows from a bow at a target. The closer the shot is to
the center of the target, the higher the score will be. The individual scores are added
up, and the archer with the highest total wins the competition. There is Target Archery
and Field Archery. Target archery involves shooting at one target from various
distances. Field archery involves moving around a course, shooting at different sized
targets from unknown distances. The Bow used in field archery look like a traditional
bow.

Bows are made of materials like carbon, fiber glass and have a sight and stabilizers.
Stabilizers are attached to the bow to help keep it steady while shooting. Arrows have
a sharp metal tip at the front and a groove at the back that slots over the bow string.
The targets or butts are made of straw ropes that are stitched together. Coloured
paper or canvas targets are pinned to the targets.