Myanmar has several sports, with some of them having come during

British rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

History

Ancient era

Modern era

During British rule, efforts were made to civilise the local people, with British sports identified as one way to aid in this process. After independence in 1948, nation-building initiatives and the desire to unite the people using the native culture led to

chinlone Chinlone (, ), also known as caneball, is the traditional, national sport of Myanmar (Burma). It is non-competitive, with typically six people playing together as one team. The ball used is normally made from hand-woven rattan, which sounds like a ...

being adapted as the national sport.

Team sports

Basketball

Burma has a

basketball team Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, which qualified for the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

in the past.

Football

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

is the most popular sport in Myanmar. Similar to football, ''

'' () is an indigenous sport that utilises a rattan ball and is played using mainly the feet and the knees, but the head and also the arms may be used except the hands.

Equestrian

Equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

events were held by the royal army in the time of the Burmese kings in the month of ''Pyatho'' (December/January).

Less popular sports

Cricket

References

{{Sport in Asia *