Presently, common sports of Uttar Pradesh are of two distinct genre: the traditional sports and the modern sports of mainly European origin.
Traditional sports, now played mostly as a past time, include wrestling, swimming, kabaddi and track- or water-sports played according to local traditional rules and without use of modern gears; some times, display of martial skills using a sword or ‘Pata’ (stick) etc. form the basis of sports. Due to lack of organized patronage and requisite facilities, these sports are surviving mostly as individuals' hobbies or local competitive events, e.g. in interested schools.
Modern sports – the indoor, field and track games – are popular, especially among the educated class, but the State has yet to attain all-round national standing in most of them. Field hockey is very popular and Uttar Pradesh has produced some of the finest players in India. Dhyan Chand, the legendary field hockey player of India and a hero of many Olympic Games was born on 29 August 1905, in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Adolf Hitler, the Chancellor of Germany, was so impressed by Dhyan Chand's performance in the Berlin Olympic hockey finals that he offered to elevate 'Lance Naik' Dhyan Chand to the rank of a Colonel if he migrated to Germany; Chand had declined the offer.
Cricket has become more popular than field hockey. Though not renowned for it cricket team, U.P. won its first Ranji Trophy tournament in February 2006, beating Bengal in the final. It can also boast of its 3 or 4 players normally finding a place in the national side. Green Park Stadium in Kanpur is one of the oldest cricket venues in India and has witnessed some of India's most famous victories.
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