Kabaddi

Union Sports Minister, Kiren Rijiju, recently announced that the government would be taking efforts to get kabaddi included in the Olympics.

About the Sport

Kabaddi is a contact sport, played by 2 teams. Each of the teams contain 7 players. The sport involves a ‘raider’ from the offence team trying to run into the opposing team’s half of the court and return to their own half in a single breath. The defending team will try to tackle the raider. The offence team scores by tagging by the raider while the defence team scores by tackling the raider.

Origin

The kabaddi sport is native to the Indian subcontinent. The sport is believed to have originated in ancient India during the Vedic period. It is also popular in other South Asian countries- it’s the national sport of Bangladesh.

Variations

There are 2 major variations of the sport: the Punjabi kabaddi or the circle style kabbadi and the standard kabaddi. The standard kabaddi makes use of a rectangular court and is the variation used in international competitions. The former variation is played outdoors while the latter is played indoors.