2012 in Indian sports explained

Between the 2012 Summer Olympics and traditional sports, many significant events occurred this year in Indian sports. Below is a timeline.

January

M. Chitra wins the women's snooker title at the Manisha National Billiards and Snooker Championship.^[1]
19–23 January: Rajasthan defeats Tamil Nadu for the 78th Ranji Trophy in cricket.^[2]
28 January: In tennis, Leander Paes and Radek Štěpánek of the Czech Republic win the men's doubles at the Australian Open.^[3]
28 January: Australia defeats India 4–0 in the Test Series in Australia.^[4]

Ajay Mittal wins the shotgun gold medal at the 55th National Shooting Championships.
18 February: The 2012 Summer Olympics Men's qualification 1 and 2012 Summer Olympics Women's qualification 1 begin in New Delhi.
26 February: The South African women's field hockey team defeats the Indian women's team, qualifying for the London Olympics.
26 February: The Indian men's field hockey team qualify for the London Olympics.
29 February: The first season of World Series Hockey begins.

M.C. Mary Kom and Laishram Sarita Devi are gold medalists at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship.
March 3: Mahesh Bhupati and Rohan Bopanna win the doubles title at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
5 March: The 2012 I-League 2nd Division final round in football begins.
10 March: Rahul Dravid retires from international cricket after a 16-year career.^[5]
13 March: In football, India is eliminated from the AFC Challenge Cup after losing three matches in the group stage.
16 March: Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar scores his 100th international hundred against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup.^[6]

2 April: Sher-e-Punjab wins the 2012 World Series Hockey final, defeating Pune Strykers 5–2.
4 April: The Twenty20 cricket Indian Premier League begins.
12 April: Shiva Thapa became the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics.^[7]
16 April: The 2012 I-League U20 begins.
17 April: The 2012 I-League 2nd Division final round ends, with ONGC and United Sikkim promoted to the 2012–13 I-League.

5 May: Archer Deepika Kumari wins her first World Cup individual recurve gold medal in Antalya, Turkey by defeating Korea's Lee Sung Jin in the final.
2011–12 I-League football season ends.
10 May: Viswanathan Anand defends his world chess championship title against Boris Gelfand from May 10–31.^[8]
18 May: Mary Kom qualifies for the London Olympics.^[9]
19 April: 2012 I-League U20 ends, with Pune F.C. U-20 champions.
27 May: The 2012 Indian Premier League finals are held at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Kolkata Knight Raiders win, defeating two-time champion (and host) Chennai Super Kings.
29 May - 2 June: First leg of the Indian Volley League

July 31: Gagan Narang wins a bronze medal in the men's 10m air rifle at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

July 27 – August 12: India at the 2012 Summer Olympics:
August 3: Vijay Kumar wins a silver medal in the 25m Men's rapid-fire pistol at the Olympics.
August 4: Saina Nehwal wins the bronze medal in women's badminton singles at the Olympics, after opponent Wang Xin retired with a knee injury while leading 21–18, 1–0.
August 8: Mary Kom wins the bronze medal in women's flyweight boxing at the Olympics.
August 11: Yogeshwar Dutt wins the bronze medal in men's 60 kg freestyle wrestling at the Olympics.
August 12: Sushil Kumar wins the silver medal in men's 66 kg freestyle wrestling at the Olympics.
23–27 August: First test between India and New Zealand of New Zealand's tour of India 2012 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, India; India won by an innings and 115 runs.

31 August – 4 September: Second test between India and New Zealand of New Zealand's tour of India at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore
2 September - India defeats Cameroon for its third consecutive football Nehru Cup.
8 September: First T20 between India and New Zealand of New Zealand's tour of India at ACA-VDCA Stadium in Vishakhapatnam
11 September: Second T20 between India and New Zealand of New Zealand's tour of India at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai
16 September: The India women's national football team win the 2012 SAFF Women's Championship.
18 September – 7 October: Indian men's and women's cricket teams at the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka
22 September: First season of the Elite Football League of India begins.

15–19 November: First test between India and England of England's tour of India at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad
23–27 November: Second test between India and England of England's tour of India at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

5–9 December: Third test of England's tour of India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata
13–17 December: Fourth test of England's tour of India at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
20 December: First T20 of England's tour of India at Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Pune
22 December: Second T20 of England's tour of India at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Game	Tournament	Winner	Length
Game	Tournament	Winner	From	To
American Football	2012-13 Elite Football League of India	TBA	22 September 2012	18 February 2012
Association Football	2011–12 I-League	Dempo	October 2011	May 2012
	2012 I-League 2nd Division	Royal Wahingdoh Kalighat Mohammedan Vasco United Sikkim Aizawl
	2012 I-League 2nd Division final round	ONGC United Sikkim	5 March 2012	17 April 2012
	2012 I-League U20	Pune U-20	16 April 2012	19 May 2012
	2012–13 I-League	Churchill Brothers	6 October 2012	12 March 2013
Cricket	2011–12 Ranji Trophy	Rajasthan		23 January 2012
	2012 Indian Premier League	Kolkata Knight Riders	4 April 2012	27 May 2012
	2012–13 Ranji Trophy	Mumbai		30 January 2013
Field Hockey	2012 World Series Hockey	Sher-e-Punjab	29 February 2012	2 April 2012
Field Hockey	2012-13 World Series Hockey	Cancelled	15 December 2012	20 January 2013
Rugby Union	2012 All India & South Asia Rugby Tournament	Bombay Gymkhana
Volleyball	Indian Volley League	Cancelled	29 May 2012	24 June 2012

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/article2840602.ece Chitra Magimairaj's long wait ends
http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-domestic-2011/engine/match/522988.html Ranji Trophy Elite, 2011/12
http://in.news.yahoo.com/paes-Stepanek-win-australian-open-doubles-title-125956264--tennis.html Paes and Stepanek win Australian Open doubles title
Web site: 4th Test: Australia v India at Adelaide, Jan 24-28, 2012 | Cricket Scorecard . . 28 January 2012 . 16 February 2012.
News: Standing tall, ‘The Wall' bows out . Chennai, India . The Hindu . 10 March 2012.
Web site: Cricket history for Sachin, but Bangladesh chase down India's 289 . https://archive.today/20120904141207/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Specials/Cricket/AsiaCup-2012/Chunk-HT-UI-AsiaCup2012-TopStories/Bangaldesh-win-toss-sent-India-into-bat/SP-Article10-826284.aspx . dead . September 4, 2012 . . 16 March 2012 . 18 April 2012.
http://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/article3303793.ece Shiva Thapa
Web site: Home - Official site of the match for the title of World Chess Champion. . 2012-05-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130928013643/http://moscow2012.fide.com/en . 2013-09-28 . dead .
News: Mary Kom qualifies for London Olympics . https://archive.today/20120711211000/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-05-18/london-olympics/31764359_1_london-olympics-mc-mary-kom-l-sarita-devi . dead . 11 July 2012 . . 18 May 2012.