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Calcutta has always been an ardent admirer and a sincere enthusiast of games and sports since
its hoary antiquity. Being the linchpin of all major activities
in the past and due to umpteen uantage points, the metropolis has
fostered games and sports to a tremendous extent. It has also produced
several illustrious sports personae who have made the nation
proud. The city's contribution to several games is simply
incredible. In fact, Calcutta has played the pivotal role in popularizing
some games through out the world.
To start with, soccer comes as the obvious first choice as Calcutta has been synonymous with soccer since
aeons. It is difficult to explain this extremely intimate relationship in a
nutshell. Soccer has always been the heart-throb of Calcutta and even a few years
ago, the enthusiastic Calcuttans virtually lived, dreamt and breathed
soccer.
Next, in order of importance, comes cricket. Invented in England,
this game has always been immensely popular among millions of
Indians. Calcutta played the big brother in organizing and standardizing
it. 'The Madras Courier' matches were played by the 'Calcutta Cricket Club' against
Barrackpur and Dum Dum as early as 1792 (23rd February). It establishes the fact that outside the British
Isles, 'The Calcutta Cricket Club' was the oldest one of its
kind. The first organized cricket match in India was played
in Calcutta on 18th and 19th January, 1804. The contenders were the old
Etonians and a team with an exotic designation 'Calcutta'. The participants
were the 'writers' of the Writers' Building. The pitch was laid
in the Maidan.
This was the humble beginning of cricket matches in Calcutta which soon cast an
incantation over all and sundry. Matches began to be played almost regularly.
However, allotment of a permanent ground for this purpose was difficult and the available ones had to
counter endless problems. Finally, Sir Robert Napier, the then Military Member of the Council of
India, suggested to shift the club to a ground from the High Court
end to the Calcutta Gate of Fort William. Thus, the Club, later christened as Cricket Association of Bengal, gained
absolute ownership of the playing area and the right to use
it. The land at that time, had no name of proprietor but it was soon acquired by Auckland
Circus Gardens, named after the Bengal Governor. However, a map of 1854
shows the area as Eden Gardens, after the Misses Eden,
Auckland's sisters. Thus came into being the second biggest ground in the world with a capacity
of 1 lakh 20 thousand seats at present. Formally, the stadium has been named after
Ranji, the giant of Indian Cricket. The clubhouse has been
named after Dr. Bidhan Roy. In the meantime, the Ballygunge Cricket Club was founded in 1864 which merged with the Calcutta Cricket Club (CCC) in 1950.
Arthur Gilligan came to India with his team on the first official MCC tour in 1926-27. This catapulted
India's status in international cricket. Anyway cricket was fast becoming inextricably associated with the Indians.
Now, Sarada Ranjan Roy(1858 - 1925), an erudite scholar, fielded a
'Bengalee Schools' team against the 'British Schools' in 1913. This became a regular fixture. The Anglo-Indian Schools followed in no time and thus emerged a triangular
competition.
Meanwhile, the local clubs cropped up rapidly and made commendable
progress. Thenotable clubs were the Aryans, the Town Club, the
Sporting Union, the Kalighat Club etc.
Ironically, Bengal the progenitor of Indian Cricket, has not
produced many talents to represent the national team.
Calcutta can however be proud of Sharadindu ('Shute') Banerjee (1911 - 1980) of the Aryan
Club, was an 'Express' bowler and arguably one of the
fastest bowlers India has ever produced. Pankaj Roy was another
illustrious cricketer from Bengal who played 43 Tests and opened
India's innings for four years with aplomb. Prabir Sen,
Dilip Doshi and Arun Lal have also made the city proud by
being members of the national squad at different times. But the latest feather in the cap of Calcutta Cricket is the inimitable Saurav
Ganguly who has carved a niche for himself in the history of the game. A
spontaneous, graceful and flamboyant left hander batsman, a witty bowler and a great thinker of the game, Ganguly
is improving every day. This 'made-in-Calcutta' genius is now the
skipper of the national team and is all set to take his team
in search of greener pastures.
Thus, the cricket phobia continues in Bengal, particularly in Calcutta
where plenty of matches and tournaments are played even in the
streets. Local clubs play a significant role in popularizing
the game in this city.
Another sport which is very popular in India is hockey. However, after the golden era of Indian Hockey in the
1930s, the standards of the game have deteriorated thoroughly and
today's Indians inevitably find least interest in this game
which was once the monopoly of India.
The first Indian hockey clubs were formed in Calcutta in 1885. The Beighton Cup Tournament was initiated in 1895
in Calcutta. The All India Hockey Federation held its first National Championships at Calcutta in 1928. Calcutta had established itself as a formidable power in
hockey both in the Senior League as well as the Beighton Cup. Apart from the Customs, Port Commissioners and
Railways as well as private clubs viz., the Xaverians, Mohan Bagan and the Rangers had also
made remarkable progress. Some outstanding players in Calcutta, in the
pre-independence era were Allen, the Tapsell brothers, Dickie
Carr, Shaukat Ali, Joe Gallibardy etc. In the
post-independence era, Calcutta made outstanding contributions to Indian Hockey through Pat
Jansen, G. Glacken, Leslie Claudius, Keshav Dutt, M. Daluz, Gurbux Singh, G.S.
Dubey, C.S. Gurung. Incidentally, the first woman recipient of the Arjuna Award for
Hockey was Ms. Ann Lumsden of Calcutta.
Rugby Football was introduced in Calcutta sometime in 1872. England and
Scotland, used to contend annually for the 'Calcutta Cup' ever since 1876.
The Calcutta Football Club (CFC) which was abolished in 1876, was resuscitated in 1884 for Rugby alone.
However, soccer also started from 1894. Though Rugby never attained the status of a popular national game, it did not disappear either. The local
schools, La Martiniere and Armenian College, incorporated it in their programmes.
The All-India Rugby Football Tournament is played to this day alternately at Calcutta and Mumbai.
Lawn-Tennis is also played in Calcutta. Though not a hot favourite of the
masses, it has contributed immensely to the game at the higher levels.
'The Bengal Lawn Tennis Championships' started in 1887 in the outfield at Eden Gardens. The Tennis
circuits in Calcutta were dominated by Japanese players like Zenzo Shimidzu and Okamoto. The oldest tennis club in Calcutta was the North Club at Beadon Square
(now Rabindra Kanan). However, the South Club which followed soon
(1920), grew more popular in a short while. It was founded
by Akshay and Gyanesh Dey and Anandi Mukherjee. With six well-tended grass courts, the club was justifiably referred to as the
Wimbledon of the East. Renowned players from all over the globe have played in this court. Several Davis Cup ties have
been played at the South Club.
This club started the Calcutta Lawn Tennis Championships in the early
1930s. It inaugurated the National Championships in 1946. Some of the illustrious players of South Club who have enriched Indian Tennis are Dilip
Basu, Sumant Mishra, Naresh Kumar, Akhtar Ali, Joydeep
Mukherjee, Enrico Piperno etc. Leander Paes, the Junior Wimbledon title holder in 1990, is a proud possession of Calcutta.
Golf, though not a universal favourite, is also popular in
Calcutta. The Royal Calcutta Golf Club which was established in 1829, is the oldest institution of its kind outside Britain.
At present, it has shifted to Tollygunge from Dumdum via the
Maidan. The Tollygunge Club has a marvellous course. The
'Royal' is the founding force behind the Indian Golf Union. It conducts the Amateur Golf Championship at Calcutta, Delhi and Mumbai in
rotation.
Another important sport in Calcutta is Polo. The game is believed to have its humble roots in Manipur and a great enthusiast to popularize it in India was Captain Joseph
Shearer. It is somewhat regarded as a rich man's sport, save the armed
forces which can provide its players with the stallions. Anyway, the Calcutta Polo Club founded the Indian Polo Association in 1892. Much later, the 2nd
World War, partition and other allied problems such as devastated
grounds, shattered morale etc. almost put the kibosh on the game. But
several opulent parties sincerely endeavoured to rejuvenate the game. In 1955 the ground in the middle of the Race Course had been all set for holding the game at Championship levels.
Horse Race, another fabulous sport in India, began in
Calcutta. The first recorded meet was on 16th, 17th and 18th
January, 1794. Races were held at Akra near Metiabruz till 1809.
Then the venue was shifted to the Maidan. Races were first held on a straight course in the morning.
Later, the rules were amended and today the race-course is a triangle with the
corners rounded off. Racing in the afternoon started after
1876.
Two supplementary courses were founded at Tollygunge and
Barrackpore. However, the latter was very short lived. The Calcutta Turf Club was founded in
1847. It was rechristened the 'Royal Calcutta Turf Club' after the visit of George V in the city in
1911. Until the 2nd World War, the jockeys were mostly
Australians and Britons. The first Indian jockey who won the prestigious Calcutta Gold Cup was kheem Singh in 1950.
Calcutta has made a significant contribution in Badminton as
well. In 1934, the All-India Badminton Association was founded in Calcutta. The
first National Tournament was held here the same year. The winner was Vijay
Madgavkar, a Calcuttan.
The city can boast of producing some outstanding Badminton players like Manoj
Guha, Gajanan Hemmadi, Dipu Ghosh, Ramen Ghosh and even the national
women's champion Madhumita Singh Bisht (Goswami).
Table-Tennis has always been an extremely popular game in Calcutta. The Bengal Table Tennis Association was founded in 1934 as the first one
of its kind in India. Three years later, the All-India Table-Tennis Federation
was established at the South Club. Calcutta has produced some of the best exponents of the game like Rupa Mukherjee, Kalyan Jayant and Indu Puri. The metropolis encourages and grooms up raw talent at the Junior and sub-junior levels. Calcutta hosted the
World Table-Tennis Championships in 1975 at the Netaji Indoor Stadium exclusively built for that stupendous occasion.
Calcutta YMCA deserves full credit for the sensational ushering of Basket
Ball into the country. The Bengal Basket Ball Association was founded in
1927, twenty three years before the emergence of the National
Federation.
The Billiards Association of India was also born in Calcutta in the year
1926. Calcutta has immense contribution in elevating India's standard
of Billiards at the higher levels. The Amateur World Billiards
Championships were held in Calcutta in 1958.
Boxing was introduced in Calcutta by the British Army. The first recorded bout took place in
October, 1884 at the Parsee Theatre. The Anglo Indian schools cultivated the sport and
made pugilism a popular sport among the Calcuttans. The
Bengal Amateur Boxing Federation was founded in 1930. The
All India Boxing Federation was founded at Calcutta in 1948.
Ace pugilists from Calcutta like Bob Lal, Binay Basu, Robin
Bhatta, M. Joachim, R. Cranston etc.
The legendary Eugene Sandow came to Calcutta in 1905 and bolstered the spirits of the
youth. Body-building became a craze in the city. S.N. Majumder introduced the first modern
disc-loading barbell set in India around 1907-1908. An All India Association was founded in the 1920s and subsequently the
national weight lifting championship started. The Bengal
State Association for weight lifting was formed in 1933. Notable weight lifters from Calcutta who represented India in the international meets were Nilmani Das, Mohanlal Ghosh, Alok Ghosh, Kamalakanta Santra, Anil
Mandal etc. Body-builders from Calcutta won the 'Bharat Shri'
national body-building championships umpteen times.
Parimal Ray, a Calcuttan had won the title of 'Mr. Asia' for
the first time. Later, Monotosh Roy and Monohar Aich bagged the
'Mr. Universe' titles in their respective categories. Bishnucharan Ghosh was
another renowned body-builder and a yoga maestro.
Card-games, among the indoor ones, have always been an obsession of Calcutta. Calcutta has remained the topper in bridge-game in India. Rabi Roy is a towering figure of the game
Calcutta's Bhabanipur Card Club was the proud winner of
India's only international victory in bridge game. The championships
were held in Manila in 1976. Again, in 1988, India secured the 4th place
in the Venice Bridge Olympiad. That formidable team comprised
Calcuttans like Debasish Roy, Kamal Mukherjee and Shantanu Ghosh among others.
All these sports mentioned above have European origin. However,
wrestling is probably the only indigenous sport of Calcutta. About 1892, a World Wrestling Championship was held in Calcutta
under the patronage of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan of
Coochbehar. Here Karim Baksh emerged victorious over Tom Cannon. But, it was the
'Guha' family who took the status of wrestling to
sky-kissing heights. Some of the eminent figures who contributed immensely to the world of wrestling
are Ambu Guha, Kshetra, Panchanan and the legendary Jatindra Charan,
popularly known as 'Gobar' Guha. He won the World
Light-Heavy-Weight title at San Francisco in 1921.
The State Wrestling Federation was formed in 1947. Nirmal Basu,
Niranjan Das, Tarakeshwar Pandey etc. were some other
illustrious wrestlers from Calcutta.
Another sport which can be regarded to a great extent as
Calcutta's own is Swimming. The swimming championships of Calcutta in the days of yore,
were held on the river Ganga. Long-distance swimming competitions on the river catapulted the popularity of the game. Swimming
clubs were established at College Square and Hedua in the 1920s. The first Olympic swimmer from India was
Nalin Chandra Malakar of Calcutta at Los Angeles in 1932. A galaxy of
India's leading swimmers and water-polo players hailed from Calcutta till date. Some of the great swimmers from Calcutta who excelled in the National and International
championships are Sachin Nag, Mihir Sen, Dilip Mitra, Prafulla Mallick, Rajaram
Shaw, Sanjeeb Chakraborty, Masadoor Rehman Baidya, Arati Saha, Sandhya Chandra, Kalyani Basu, Nafisa Ali, Bula Chowdhury etc.
The adventure-loving people of this 'sporting city' are also very fond of
'mountaineering' as a sport. The largest body of alumni among the three mountaineering
training institutes in India, is from West Bengal and the majority is from Calcutta. Calcutta has the maximum number of registered mountaineering
clubs in India.
To conclude, the names of some outstanding sportsmen from Calcutta who participated in
'The Olympics' at different times must be mentioned.
Calcutta, indeed, feels proud of the Olympians like Nilima Ghosh, Arati Saha, Soma Dutta, Sumita Laha,
Paulami Ghatak etc. Indeed the city of joy is the best
fostering ground and the pioneer in ameliorating the
standards of games and sports in India.
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