England’s kabaddi captain Hardeep Singh believes his team can reach the final of the sport’s world cup and even compete with India, the red-hot favourites.
Kabaddi, where seven-player teams earn points by crossing into their opponent’s territory to tag them and return safely, all the while chanting “kabaddi”, is the second most watched sport in India behind cricket and often pulls in TV audiences of over 200 million.
Unsurprisingly India has dominated every international tournament to date, and their men’s team are set to extend that run.
But Singh and his colleagues have home advantage, as this year’s tournament is taking place in the West Midlands and he believes they have a chance of making history – and bringing new fans to the sport at the same time.
Singh, who is from Wolverhampton, which, along with Birmingham, Coventry, and Walsall, is one of the venues for the first world cup held outside Asia, said his squad thinks “we can get to the final and give India a good game”.
“They [India] are seen as invincible because it’s their national sport and they have so much heritage. But we will be ready to have that fight.
“When I started playing kabaddi I never thought it would get this far, and hosting a world cup in my hometown makes it particularly special,” he added.
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Some in the UK will remember the fast, intense, and often very loud sport from Trans World Sport, Channel Four’s popular mid-1990s Saturday morning show.
For anyone new to it, Singh says kabaddi is “crazy” and has “got everything”.
He sees the tournament as a huge opportunity, as he believes there’s “so much potential for kabaddi in this country, provided there is enough support and funding at grass-roots level”.
England, who play in the British Kabaddi League, which was founded in 2022, thumped Hungary by a record-breaking 101-25 on the tournament’s opening day.
England’s women’s team also made a winning start in the initial round-robin phase on Tuesday, beating Hungary 85-15. Men’s and women’s teams from Scotland and Wales are also taking part.
Kabaddi is played by two teams of 12 players categorised by age and weight, with seven on the field of play [measuring 13m by 10m] at any one time.
A coin is tossed, and the team that wins the toss decides whether to raid or which court [side of the playing area] to start in. No special equipment, clothing, or accessories are needed.
Teams score one point for each opponent that they put out of the game. When attacking, it’s when the raider touches opposition players, putting them out.
When defending, it is done by preventing the raider returning to their own half. Bonus points are also available.
To win a point when raiding, the raider must take a breath and run into the opposition’s half while repeatedly yelling the word ‘kabaddi’.
If they stop or chant anything else, they will be declared out and the opponents will be awarded a point and take the next raid.
The team with the most points at the end of the match wins.
There are six officials looking after matches, which are played over four equal periods of 10 minutes, with rest periods after each.
Each team is allowed to take a maximum of two 30-second time-outs per match.
Raids last 30 seconds each, with a siren sounding after 20. All raids must start within five seconds of the previous one ending.
Indeed, Scotland’s men pulled off a major upset by holding India to a thrilling 64-64 draw on Tuesday.
England women’s captain Athira Sunil took up the sport at school in Kerala after changing from badminton and says players are coming to kabaddi from sports like rugby and wrestling, “so they already come with good speed and techniques”.
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She said the future for the sport in this country “is very good”.
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It’s growing so quickly, that some are hoping it will one day appear in the Commonwealth Games or even the Olympics.
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Commonwealth Games Federation president Chris Jenkins said he was “blown away” after coming to Tuesday’s second day in Wolverhampton, adding he was impressed by “the atmosphere and the chanting, and the match itself is really physical and very exciting”.
Plans are understood to have been made to showcase the sport within the truncated Games programme in Glasgow next year.
