Delhi has a number of sports complexes where people can play, enjoy and practice a variety of games and sports. Apart from the ubiquitous cricket which you can witness children and adults of all ages playing at all times in back-lanes and parks all over Delhi, there are other games such as football, tennis, badminton, hockey etc. that are gaining in popularity.

The facilities to play different games that require well defined areas and infrastructure (such as courts, nets etc.) have been developed by DDA or Delhi Development Authority. These are sports complexes that you will find all over Delhi. Some of the more prominent Sport Complexes have been built especially for the Asian Games in 1982 and the Commonwealth Games in 2010 that were hosted by Delhi.

With better facilities that are more accessible to the common citizens, the quality of sports in the city has improved and its reflection is seen in more world-class sportsmen and sportswomen that are winning accolades for the country. Most of the sports complexes that are located in residential areas have made different sports such as tennis, badminton, squash, basketball, swimming etc. available to the common citizen, improved their overall health and created an environment of clean entertainment at an affordable price.

Those sports complexes such as Siri Fort Sports Complex, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium etc. that have been especially constructed for the Asian Games or Common Wealth Games have world-class facilities. There are also prestigious clubs such as the Delhi Golf Club, NSCI or National Sports Club of India etc. that offer a wide variety of sports facilities, sports training and facilities for entertainment for their members alone. Membership to these clubs is difficult to get with a long waiting period and is also very expensive.

There are also sport specific stadia such as Firozshah Kotla Stadium for cricket, Dhyanchand Hockey Stadium, Talkatora Indoor stadium for indoor sports and many more. Firozshah Kotla Cricket stadium is in operation since before independence and has had the honour of hosting the first test match against West Indies in Independent India in 1948.

As young Indian talent is being recognized in the world of sport and sportsmen from diverse sports such as weightlifting, shooting, billiards, tennis, badminton and boxing are bringing home medals won in international events, sports in general is getting a fillip it deserves.

Major Sports Complexes

Siri Fort Sports Complex

Located in the historic Siri Fort area of New Delhi, Siri Fort Sports Complex was built especially for the 1982 Asian Games. The Asian Games village where participating sportsmen and women stayed is also in the vicinity. Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has developed and now maintains this world class sports infrastructure that was also used for the Common Wealth Games in 2010 for badminton and squash competitive matches.

Yamuna Sports Complex

Another prestigious sports complex in Delhi is the Yamuna Sports Complex which was inaugurated in July1999. It has been developed by the Delhi Development Authority and is also run by it. It has high class facilities for a wide variety of games such as clay and synthetic courts for tennis and indoor games such as Table Tennis, Badminton, Carrom, Chess, Billiards and Snooker. The Gymnastics Hall, Skating, Aerobics, Taekwondo and Archery facilities are among the best in India.

Thyagaraja Sports Complex

The Thyagaraja Sports Complex is a modern sports complex located in New Delhi. It was developed by the Government of Delhi and NCR and is the pride of Delhi because of the use of green techniques and environmental friendly materials in its development. It is India’s first sports complex that has green technologies such as water harvesting and sewage treatment facility and local species of plants and trees are used in gardens and landscaping. The sports complex is named after the renowned South Indian music composer Thyagaraja. It hosted the Netball events of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

The maintenance of this modern sports facility is the responsibility of the Public Works Department.