Band 9: The chart below shows the number of adults participating in different major sports in one area, in 1997 and 2017. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The bar chart illustrates the number of adults participating in seven popular sports categories from the same location.

Overall, there was a noticeable increase in participation for all mentioned sports between 1997 and 2017, except for cricket, which saw a significant decline. Tennis consistently held its position as the most popular sport among adults over the two decades.

Interest in football and rugby has risen at a similar rate, with participation increasing from around thirty thousand to just under fifty thousand by 2017. Meanwhile, the popularity of golf and swimming remained relatively unchanged during this period.

However, cricket became the least preferred sport among the seven, with the number of participants dropping from about twenty-five thousand in 1997 to approximately five thousand in 2017. In contrast, tennis gained an additional five thousand participants over the same time frame, solidifying its status as the most favored sport among the major categories.