Singles in India Are Most Passionate About Sports
Contributed by: kellyseal on Monday, June 24 2024 @ 11:19 am
Last modified on Monday, June 24 2024 @ 11:42 am
Young daters in India are looking to find love based on their passion for sports like Cricket, according to a new study by dating app Happn.
According to the Deccan Chronicle[*1] , more than 60 percent of singles on the app are looking to match with someone who shares their love of sports. Cricket is by far the favorite sport among daters, but women over 35 are particularly enthralled with the sport (79 percent) and are more likely to match with someone else who shares that passion.
The majority of singles (over 70 percent) also want their partners to be athletic as well as being into sports. Among Gen Z singles, that figure rises to 83 percent. Women are more interested in playing a sport together on a date than men are, too.
Eighty-three percent of Gen Z women and 82 percent of the 36 and older group of women confirmed they like playing a sport together on a date.
Cricket isn’t the only game in town. An interest in F1 racing ranks higher among older women (12 percent), and among younger women, basketball comes in second at 11 percent compared to Cricket.
Men on the other hand were consistently more interested in football than women across all age categories, with the biggest difference seen in men ages 18-25.
IPL is the clear winner in terms of fans, with 88 percent of Gen Z women claiming they are massive fans. The Olympics rank as well, with 19 percent of women ages 36 and above saying they are fans of the international sporting event.
Happn launched a new feature called Crush Points last year, which helps users to connect through places they love to visit, not just according to where they live. Karima Ben Abdelmalek, CEO and President of Happn, told Business Insider[*2] : “When we tell the story of meeting someone, the place is always part of it. We therefore wanted to make the places memorable. Putting meeting places at the heart of the experience is an obvious choice for us."
Happn has over 39 million users across India, and focuses on using AI technology to help combat the ubiquitous fake profiles that pop up on dating apps. The app claims that it finds and blocks 85 percent of fake profiles within one hour of being reported. The AI assists with detecting fraudulent profiles quickly, as well as specific words used that are sexual or violent in nature.
In addition to safety protocols, the app uses AI to enhance profiles and for behavior analysis (such as analyzing the likes and rejections of a user to better choose matches going forward).
The study was conducted earlier this year, via polling users of Happn in India.