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Association football andbasketball are the most popular sports in Asia.[1]Cricket is the third most popular sport in Asia, and ismost popular inSouth Asia.[2] Other popularsports in Asia includebaseball,badminton andtable tennis among others. There are also some traditional sports that are popular in certain regions of Asia, such as theSouth Asian sportskabaddi andkho-kho,[3] andsepak takraw inSoutheast Asia.[4] Top sporting nations/regions inAsia includeChina,Japan,South Korea,Taiwan,India,Iran,Kazakhstan andUzbekistan.
Before theEuropean colonisation of the region, manytraditional sports were played in different parts of Asia. Various modern board games such aschess,snakes and ladders, andludo trace their origin toancient South Asian games, whilego originates in East Asia.[5] Many martial artsoriginated in Asia, with major schools found inSouth,Southeast andEast Asia. Many sports spread across Asia in antiquity;kabaddi was present in bothPersia and South Asia,[6][7] whileatya-patya and other traditional games are shared between South and Southeast Asia.[8][9]Kite-flying was a Chinese export that likely spread through trade and Buddhist missionary activities.[10] Though they are not directly related, someancient Chinese sports, such ascuju andchuiwan, bear uncanny resemblances to modern-day sports likefootball andgolf.[11] Competitions on horseback were common, with the Central Asian-originMughal Empire having played a role in bringing equestrianism into South Asia;[12]tent pegging was played throughout western and southern parts of Asia,[13] while modernpolo was standardised from earlier forms of the game found inBritish India, which were similar to the ancient polo played in other parts of Asia.[14]
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American colonisation and Christian missionary activities introduced basketball into the Philippines and China, where it became one of their most popular sports.[15][16]Baseball became popular in East Asia through American contact in the mid-19th century, and further grew after Japancolonised parts of the region, as Japanese colonies increasingly played their coloniser's sport as a way to prove their equality.[17][18] Similar phenomena factored into the massive growth of otherWestern sports in parts of Asia that experiencedEuropean colonisation.[19][20]
After the colonial era ended, Western sports played a significant role innation-building and connecting different Asian countries together; cricket allowed India to unify its diverse people and conduct "cricket diplomacy" to cool tensions with its neighborPakistan,[21][22] while theAsian Games, inspired in part by the post-colonial vision of India's first Prime Minister,Jawaharlal Nehru, went on to become one of the biggest sporting events in the world.[23][24][25]Table tennis, backed by theChinese Communist Party as a cheap sport the developing nation could excel in at a global level, became very popular in China.[26]
In the modern day, South Asia is home to theIndian Premier League (IPL - cricket), the second-most valued sports league in the world (behind theNFL) in terms of per-match media rights fees.[27] Some of itstraditional sports, such askho-kho andarm wrestling, have also become professional;[28]kabaddi in particular is growing globally, with Asian countries likeSouth Korea andIran finding some success in international kabaddi.[29][30][31] Asia in general has become more successful at football; the closest that an Asian nation has come to winning theFIFA World Cup is when Korea came in fourth at the2002 FIFA World Cup.[32]
Basketball is popular in a number of Asian countries.FIBA Asia is organized byInternational Basketball Federation (FIBA) and manages the sport over the region. Major contending nations are China, Japan, Philippines, Iran, South Korea and Taiwan. In China and the Philippines, the sport has a major following comparable to Association Football in Europe.
ThePhilippines has the best finish in theFIBA World Cup from teams outside the Americas and Europe winning bronze in1954 FIBA World Championship. Also, the team took a fifth-place finish in 1936 Summer Olympics, the best finish by any team outside the Americas, Europe and Oceania.China has dominated theFIBA Asia Championship since the 1970s while the Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Iran continues to be strong contenders. In women's basketball, theFIBA Asia Women's Championship has been fought between China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.
TheFIBA World Cup was held in Asia in:1978 in the Philippines,2006 in Japan and2019 in China. In2023, the Philippines and Japan will once again host the World Cup, along withIndonesia.
The main tournament for Asian basketball clubs is theFIBA Asia Champions Cup, held since 1981.
TheAsian Football Confederation was founded in 1954. They organize several tournaments for national teams, most notably theAFC Asian Cup since 1956 andAFC Women's Asian Cup since 1975, as well as qualifying tournaments for theFIFA World Cup,FIFA Women's World Cup and the Summer Olympics. TheAFC Champions League is Asia's premier tournament for clubs, first held in 1967.
The AFC members are split into five regional federations:West,Central,South,East andSouth East. These federations organize regional football championships.
The most successful Asian countries in international men's competitions have beenJapan,China,North Korea,South Korea,Hong Kong,Chinese Taipei,Macau andMongolia in East, andIran,United Arab Emirates,Qatar,Iraq,Saudi Arabia,Jordan,Oman,Syria,Bahrain,Lebanon,Palestine,Kuwait andYemen in West,India,Pakistan,Sri Lanka,Bangladesh,Maldives,Nepal andBhutan in South,Uzbekistan,Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan,Turkmenistan andAfghanistan in Central, andVietnam,Thailand,Malaysia,Indonesia,Philippines,Singapore,Myanmar,Cambodia andLaos in South East. In women's football, East Asian have been dominant, especiallyJapan,China,South Korea,Chinese Taipei,Hong Kong andNorth Korea, Southeast Asian have been dominant, especially isVietnam,Thailand,Myanmar andPhilippines, West Asian have been dominant, especially isJordan,Iran,Bahrain andUnited Arab Emirates, South Asian have been dominant, especially isIndia,Nepal andBangladesh, and Central Asian has been dominant, especially isUzbekistan. Asia has been more successful in women's football than in men's football in the continent.
The2002 FIFA World Cup was hosted jointly by Japan and South Korea. It was the first edition not held in Europe or the Americas. The2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup and2022 FIFA U-17 women's world cup was hosted by India. The2022 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to take place inQatar.
The People's Republic of China hosted the first edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup in1991, as well as the2007 edition.
The top five most popular football clubs on social media from Asia excluding China as of 31 October 2018:[33]
| # | Football club | Country | Followers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Persib | Indonesia | 15.4 million |
| 2 | Al-Hilal | Saudi Arabia | 11.3 million |
| 3 | Al-Ittihad | Saudi Arabia | 4.6 million |
| 4 | Persija | Indonesia | 4.2 million |
| 5 | Kerala Blasters | India | 3.6 million |
Bandy is a growing sport in Asia. While traditional in some former Soviet republics, especiallyKazakhstan (bandy is the only team sport in which Kazakhstan has captured World Championship medals), it is more or less new in some other ones. PresidentTsakhiagiin Elbegdorj invitedthe Mongolian national team after its bronze medal in Division B of the2017 World Championship.[34]Japan also reached the semi-final. Consequently, Mongolia beat them in the bronze match.China started to compete in the World Championship in2015 andthe women's national team in2016. Both Division B ofthe men's tournament 2018 and2018 Women's World Championship (in which Japan plan to debut) will be played in China, which will be the first time either tournament is held in a totally Asian country (the area north and west of theUral River is located in Europe, thus Kazakhstan, where the2012 World Championship was held, is atranscontinental country). In September 2017 it was announced that anFIB office for development and marketing in Asia would open inHarbin.[35] Apart from the countries mentioned, Afghanistan, Armenia, India and Kyrgyzstan are also FIB members.[36] In the Philippines an attempt started in 2016 to introducerink bandy.[37] FIB is especially interested in having South Korea join the bandy community. As of 2017 negotiations are ongoing.[38]
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Baseball is the most popular sport in Japan, where it was introduced in the 1870s and became professional in the 1920s. TheJapanese Baseball League was operated from 1936 to 1949 and reorganized into theNippon Professional Baseball in 1950. Teams have been historically identified with their corporate owners, not where the team is based, and have often relocated to other cities.
Over 50 Japanese-born players have played inMajor League Baseball, includingIchiro Suzuki,Hideki Matsui,Koji Uehara andHideo Nomo.
TheJapan national baseball team has won the2006 and2009World Baseball Classic.High school baseball is also popular in Japan.
In South Korea, baseball was introduced in the 1900s and theKBO League was established in 1982, The South Korean team was the runner-up in the2009 World Baseball Classic. The Taiwan-basedChinese Professional Baseball League was established in 1989. Like the NPB, these two leagues feature teams owned by major corporations.
Boxing is a popular sport in Asia where there is a vast following of professional fights across the region. Its mostly popular in countries such asKazakhstan,Uzbekistan, Japan, Philippines, India and South Korea. Kazakhstan is the most dominant in professional and amateur level boxing in Asia with 12World Amateur Boxing Championships, 7Summer Olympic Games Gold medalist and 46Asian Amateur Boxing Championships.Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines is considered as one of the most successful boxers in history, and is currently the onlyoctuple champion in the sport.[39][40] Indian female boxerMarykom is the most successful female boxer in theAIBA women's world boxing championship with six gold medals, the most by any female boxer.
Cricket is apopular sport in South Asia. Five countries haveTest status:Afghanistan,Bangladesh,India,Pakistan, andSri Lanka.
At theCricket World Cup, India has won two editions, while Pakistan and Sri Lanka have each won once. At theICC World Twenty20, three countries have won once. Bangladesh was known to be the weakest of the four teams (Afghanistan did not have test status before 2017), having won 7 out of 91 Test matches and 95 out of 309One Day International matches. But now it making its mark in cricket after winning against the top quality sides in world cricket.
TheAsian Cricket Council is a cricket organization which was established in 1983, to promote and develop the sport of cricket in Asia. Membership in the Asian Cricket Council is divided between five Test Status members and twenty five associate members. Two Asian countries, namely Philippines and South Korea, are members ofICC East Asia-Pacific instead of the Asian Cricket Council. Moreover, Indonesia and Japan, previously in ICC East Asia-Pacific, applied for membership in the Asian Cricket Council in 2024. In 2020, Thailand and Japan competed for the first time in theWomen's T20 World Cup andUnder-19 Cricket World Cup respectively. Malaysia has applied to host aninternational cricket event in the 2023-2031 timeframe.[41]
TheAsia Cup is the continentalOne Day International andTwenty20 International cricket tournament. ACC also organises multiple pathway tournaments for Asia Cup qualification.
TheIndia–Pakistan cricket rivalry attracts up to one billion viewers. However, because of the tenseIndia–Pakistan relations, Test series have been interrupted between 1962 and 1977, 1999-2003 and since 2008 and now they only play each other in ICC events.
Cue sports, also known as billiards sports or pool sports, are popular in Asia, particularly in East and South Asian nations with Eight Balls, Nine Balls and Snooker being the most popular types. TheAsian Confederation of Billiard Sports is the main governing body in Asia. Cue sports are played in theAsian Games and other regional competitions. Various nations have produced world champions, predominantly from the Philippines, India, Taiwan, Japan andHong Kong.[42]
The Philippines is often considered to be the pool capital of the world because many of the top players coming from the country. Filipino players are known for their exceptional mastery of the game and innovative strategies that have revolutionized the way the sport is played. This was known as theFilipino Invasion which was participated by various Filipino players includingHall of FamersEfrenThe Magician Reyes andFrancisco Bustamante.[43]
Field hockey is a popular sport in India and Pakistan, and both nations are known for their fierce rivalry. TheIndia–Pakistan field hockey rivalry attracts millions of viewers, and both nations have a record of facing each other in the first seven Asian games hockey finals. They have played a total of nine finals against each other, in which Pakistan has won seven gold and India has won two gold. ThePakistan men's national field hockey team is also the most successful team in theMen's FIH Hockey World Cup, having won the tournament four times. TheIndia men's national field hockey team dominates theField hockey at the Summer Olympics, with eight medals compared to Pakistan's three medals.
Few Asian male golf players have claimed wins on thePGA Tour orEuropean Tour. Among the most successful have beenK. J. Choi, who has eight PGA Tour wins, a third place at the2004 Masters Tournament and three appearances at thePresidents Cup;Hideki Matsuyama, who has six PGA Tour wins including the 2021Masters Tournament and twoWorld Golf Championships events;Shigeki Maruyama, who has three PGA Tour wins; andYang Yong-eun, who won the2009 PGA Championship. Since 2010, more players have begun to enjoy success includingBae Sang-moon with two PGA Tour victories,Wu Ashun with three victories on the European Tour andLi Haotong with two.
In contrast, many Asian female golf players have enjoyed success on the leadingLPGA Tour, with those from South Korea and Taiwan becoming a dominant force in the sport. Several have claimed major tournament wins, most notablyInbee Park (seven),Se Ri Pak (five),Yani Tseng (five) andJiyai Shin (two).
Notable men's golf tournaments in Asia include theWGC-HSBC Champions (China),Zozo Championship (Japan),CJ Cup (South Korea),CIMB Classic (Malaysia),DP World Tour Championship, Dubai,Dubai Desert Classic,Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, (United Arab Emirates), andSaudi International (Saudi Arabia). Meanwhile, the most notable women's golf tournaments in Asia are theLPGA KEB–Hana Bank Championship,BMW Ladies Championship (South Korea),Blue Bay LPGA,Buick LPGA Shanghai (China),Toto Japan Classic,Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia andLPGA Taiwan Championship.
Kabaddi is a contact sport that originated in ancient India. The game is popular in South Asia, and is gaining global popularity in countries like South Korea, Iran and Thailand.[45] The national teams of these countries have competed in theKabaddi World Cup. ThePro Kabaddi League of India is broadcast in many Asian countries. Kabaddi is also played at theAsian Games.[46]
Kho-kho is atag sport originating from India. It featured in the2016 South Asian Games. In2022, an Indian franchise kho-kho competition known asUltimate Kho Kho completed its first season, becoming one of the most-viewed sports competitions in India.[3] There is also anAsian Kho Kho Championship which has been held since 1996.[47]
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Motorsport is popular in Japan. The country has hosted several international races, such as theJapanese Grand Prix (Formula One),6 Hours of Fuji (FIA World Endurance Championship),Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix (Grand Prix motorcycle racing),Suzuka 8 Hours (FIM Endurance World Championship),Rally Japan (World Rally Championship),FIA WTCC Race of Japan (World Touring Car Championship),Indy Japan 300 (IndyCar Series),NASCAR Thunder 100 andCoca-Cola 500 (NASCAR Cup Series).
Japan has hosted professional championships like theSuper GT,Super Formula,All Japan Sports Prototype Championship,Japanese Touring Car Championship,All Japan Road Race Championship andD1 Grand Prix.
Kazuyoshi Hoshino,Masahiro Hasemi andToshio Suzuki won the 199224 Hours of Daytona with aNISMO;Masanori Sekiya won the1995 24 Hours of Le Mans; andTakuma Sato won the2017 Indianapolis 500. Other notable Japanese racecar drivers includeSatoshi Motoyama,Seiji Ara,Satoru Nakajima,Kazuki Nakajima andKamui Kobayashi.
TheMacau Grand Prix, held since 1954, is known for itsFormula 3, touring car and superbikes races.
Formula One started adding more races in Asia with theMalaysian Grand Prix in 1999, followed by theBahrain Grand Prix andChinese Grand Prix in 2004,Singapore Grand Prix in 2008,Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2009,Korean Grand Prix in 2010,Indian Grand Prix in 2013 and Azerbaijan'sEuropean Grand Prix in 2016.
Major circuits in China (Shanghai andZhuhai),Malaysia,Indonesia,Thailand,Bahrain,Dubai andAbu Dhabi have hosted several other international championships like the FIA World Endurance Championship, World Touring Car Championship, FIM Road Racing Grand Prix Championship,Superbike World Championship,GP2 Series,GP2 Asia Series, Super GT andV8 Supercars.
In rallying, theAbu Dhabi Desert Challenge is held since 1991 and theSealine Cross-Country Rally is held since 2012. Both are part of theFIA Cross Country Rally World Cup andFIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship. Qatari driverNasser Al-Attiyah has won 2011 and 2015Dakar Rally, the 2008 and 2015FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup, theProduction World Rally Championship in 2006, and the 2014 and 2015World Rally Championship-2.
Rugby union in Asia is currently dominated by Japan. TheJapanese national team are so far the only Asian team to have competed in theRugby World Cup, having appeared in all seven tournaments so far.
TheHong Kong Sevens is one of the most prestigiousrugby sevens events in the world. it is held since 1976 and is part of theWorld Rugby Sevens Series since 2000. Other notable rugby sevens tournaments in Asia have been theDubai Sevens,Japan Sevens,Singapore Sevens,Malaysia Sevens andChina Sevens. Japan hosted the2019 Rugby World Cup.
TheTop League is Japan's premier rugby club competition, founded in 2003. In 2016, theSunwolves joined the Southern Hemisphere-basedSuper Rugby. The team is based in Tokyo but also plays home games in Singapore.
Table tennis is particularly popular inChina. Other notable Asian table tennis countries includeHong Kong,Japan,South Korea,Singapore, andTaiwan.
The most successful Asian countries in tennis have been India, China, Japan and Taiwan.
In men's singles,Kei Nishikori was finalist at the2014 US Open and two ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, whereasVijay Amritraj reached quarter-finals at four Grand Slams and was semifinalist at the 1982 WCT Finals. In men's doubles,Leander Paes of India won eight Grand Slams tournaments andMahesh Bhupathi won four Grand Slams tournaments and in mixed double Paes won 10 and Bhupathi won 8 grand slams. Leander Paes won total of 18 grand slams which is the highest by an Asian tennis player and also he is among the very few to complete career slam in both men's doubles and mixed doubles.Rohan Bopanna won his first mixed doubles grand slam title at the2017 French Open. So far only Indian men are successful in winning grand slams and also the most successful Asian team at theDavis Cup having reached the finals on three occasions.
Sania Mirza is the most successful female tennis player having won 6 grand slams 3 each in women's doubles and mixed doubles. Sania Mirza was ranked World No.1 in women's doubles for 91 consecutive weeks. In women's singles,Li Na won two Grand Slam titles at the2011 French Open and2014 Australian Open.Naomi Osaka of Japan became the second women's singles player to win Grand slam winning2018 US Open and2019 Australian Open, whereasKimiko Date-Krumm won four Japan Open titles was semifinalist at three Grand Slam tournaments. Notable women's doubles players include,Ai Sugiyama,Hsieh Su-wei,Peng Shuai andZheng Jie.
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In men's volleyball, theJapan national team has won three Olympic medals, including a gold medal in 1972. Also, the team was third at the 1970 and 1974 World Championship, and second at the 1969 and 1977 World Cup. Japan has been less successful in the World League era. Meanwhile,South Korea finished fourth at the 1978 World Championship andIran finished sixth at the 2014 World Championship.
In women's volleyball, theChina andJapan national teams are dominant. China has won three Olympic gold medals, two World Championships, four World Cups and a Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Japan has won two Olympic gold medals, three World Championships and a World Cup.South Korea has also claimed third places at the Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup and World Grand Prix.
Asia has hosted a total of eightOlympic Games: fourSummer Olympic Games:1964 inTokyo,1988 inSeoul,2008 inBeijing, and2020 once again in Tokyo, and fourWinter Olympic Games:1972 inSapporo,1998 inNagano,2018 inPyeongchang, and2022 inBeijing. Beijing became the first city to host both Summer and Winter Olympic Games.[48]
The three most successful countries at the Olympic Games areChina (winners in 2008 and runners-up in 2004, 2012, and 2020),Japan (third in 1964, 1968, and 2020) andSouth Korea (fourth in 1988 and fifth in 2010 and 2012). Asian countries have dominated judo, taekwondo, badminton and table tennis, while they have also been successful in archery, diving, gymnastics and weightlifting.
TheFar Eastern Championship Games was amulti-sport event held from 1913 to 1934, featuring competitors from all over Asia. After World War II, theAsian Games, also called the Asiad, were established in 1951. The Asian Games are the world's second largest multi-sport event after theOlympic Games.[49][50] There is also awinter edition of Asian Games, which was first held in1986.
Israel has been banned from the Asian Games since 1978, with the AGF citing security reasons. However, Israeli sports officials contend that it was due to Arab and Chinese opposition to their participation. Samuel Lalkin, general security of the Israel Sports Federation, said "The excuse that we pose big security problems is completely ridiculous if you think that North Korea is competing. That's a worse problem, but they want to see us out. We can't take part because of what we are."[51] Due to theArab–Israeli conflict, Israel sports federations have joined the European confederations.
Some Asian countries compete at theCommonwealth Games, most notably India (4th in all-time medals), Malaysia (11th), Singapore (13th) and Pakistan (15th). The1998 edition was held inKuala Lumpur, whereas the2010 edition was held inDelhi.
In all probability polo developed from rough equestrian games played by the mounted nomadic peoples of Central Asia, both Iranian and Turkic.
