Pro Kabaddi league brings the “desi” sport to the world

Published 09/02/2014, 1:53 AM EDT

Follow Us

Star Sports Pro Kabaddi league provided a refreshing change for the prime-time viewers as the new, modern edgy and competitive side of this indigenous sport is brought to the public.

Kabaddi is a combination game as the players require the agility of a pugilist, strength of a grappler, tactical acumen of a chess player and invaluable team skills.

Pro Kabaddi was inaugurated amid a huge fan fare with the opening match having the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, the Bacchan family, Nita Ambani in the star cast. The tournament had eight teams, playing each other twice in a 30-day event. Each match was divided into two halves of 20-minutes each with 7 players maximum for either side allowed on the mat. The most fascinating thing about Pro Kabaddi is that it brought fame to the another talented breed of sportsmen who time and again have proved their mettle in events like Asian Games without much acknowledgement. For once the terms “raids” and “tags” were part of discussions and #kabaddi too, was a trend on twitter.

The tournament started with Pune taking on Umumba in Mumbai which eventually faced off in the final too.  The Umumba team led by Arjuna awardee raider Anup Kumar surrendered to Jaipur Pink Panthers in the final owned by Abhishek Bacchan who was seen supporting his team in the stands throughout the journey to give the trophy. The third position was secured by Patnapaltans in the playoff versus Bangluru Bulls.

As the curtains were drawn with a thunderous applause on this 30-day sporting extravaganza spreading along the lengths and breadths of the country, the viewers were left yearning for more so the council came up with the announcement of its second edition in march 2015, underlining the success of this event.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Vivek Goel

29Articles

One take at a time