From University teams to representing in the Kabaddi world cup, England have come a long way in the sport of Kabaddi, many even say they’re the new kings of the sport.
Their players vary from opticians to doctors to pharmacists and play part time while working in their profession. During the world cup in October 2016, England reached the quarter finals of the tournament before being knocked out by soon to be winners India. Now, there is no shame in that surely and after the tournament there have been many trials for local kabaddi teams across the UK.
The growth has been amazing to see and there are now clubs in different Colleges and Universities in England. Furthermore the London School of Economics has a Kabaddi team and their so good that they even gained a sponsorship deal from a top Indian bank, while the school’s girls team continue to prosper after conquering the imperial college.
The England coach, Ashok Das is delighted with the profile of Kabaddi in the UK adding; ‘It’s good to see the sport becoming so popular in England and we want to see a wide range of people to be selected to represent the England team. At the moment we have a non-Asian England women’s team, but I want to see our teams more integrated.’
It was Mr Das who introduced the sport to the British army back in 2005; he even took them on a tour in India where they played against India’s tough teams.
Raising the profile of Kabaddi in England, just adds to the different sporting opportunities Britain can give to their local communities.
