Kabaddi

Introduction

Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Originated in Tamil Nadu, India the sport is very popular in southern part of the Asian continent. Kabaddi is the national sport of Bangladesh and is also the state game of Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Punjab and Telangana.

The word “Kabaddi” has been derived from the Tamil word “kai-pidi” which means to hold hands. However, the word might have been widespread in the Northern part of the country. The sport was recognized at an international level when it was demonstrated in 1936 Berlin Olympics. It was introduced in the Indian National Games at Calcutta in 1938 and then the All Indian Kabaddi Federation (AIKF) was formed in 1950 which was then reconstituted as the Amateur Kabaddi Federation in 1972.

The first national tournament for men was convened in Chennai, India, the same year. Today, the sport has gained popularity worldwide with the growing interest of many athletes around the globe and is played by a number of nations especially the eastern ones.

Objective

To score more points than the opponent in order to win the game.

History of Kabaddi

Kabaddi began in old Tamil Indian subcontinent which is present-day Tamil Nadu and other South Indian parts of India. Tamil people spread this game to South East Asia amid their ocean tradings. The word Kabaddi has been gotten from the Tamil word "kai-pidi" which signifies "to hold hands".The starting points of Kabaddi are questioned, with hypotheses proposing that Kabaddi began from either the Vedic time of antiquated India or the Sistan area of present-day Iran.

The amusement was said to have been well known among the Yadava dynasty, an abhang by Tukaram expressed that god Krishna played this game in his childhood, while the Mahabharata contains a record of Arjuna having the capacity to sneak into opponent regions and take out adversaries sound—which parallels the gameplay of kabaddi. There are likewise records of Gautama Buddha having played the diversion recreationally.

Notwithstanding these clashing cases, India has been attributed with having promoted Kabaddi as a professional sport, with the main organised  competitions happening in the 1920s, first included in the Indian Olympic Games in 1938, the foundation of the All-India Kabaddi Federation in 1950, and being played as a exhibition sport at the debut 1951 Asian Games in New Delhi. These advancements formalised the game, which had generally been played in towns, for genuine global competition.

Subsequent to being shown again at the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi, Kabaddi was added to the Asian Games' program starting in 1990.

Participants

There are two teams of seven players each along with five substitutions that can be availed with the permission of the referee. The teams compete against each other by occupying one-half of the court.

The team score point or points on their turn by sending a “raider” into the opposing team’s half and touching the other team’s member or members and thus returning on his half, the whole activity of the raider takes place only on a single breath while he keeps on chanting “Kabaddi, Kabaddi…”. If the raider is tackled and prevented from returning, the other team earns the point.

Events

• Men's Event

• Women's Event

• Junior Event

Techniques

Raid

The team has to send one player known as raider from their team to the opponent’s team half to raid. The raider has to start from the centerline by uttering loudly, “Kabaddi, Kabaddi….” Without taking any break. He then has to run from one side to the other side of the court in order to touch an opponent either with his hands or legs. Once touched the opponent, the raider has to come back to his court through the centerline without breaking the “Kabaddi Kabaddi ….” Rhythm. The team earns the points according to the no. of players the raider has touched. For e.g. if the raider has touched 1 player then the team will earn 1 point and if he has touched 3 then the team will earn 3 points, and so on.

Defending And Holding The Raider

The objective of the opponent is different from the player who is raiding. The opposing team prevents the raider from touching any member of their team and devise ways to catch and trap him without allowing him to get back to the centerline. If the raider is caught and he loses his chanting breath, he is declared out.

Lona

When one team through its excellent efforts is able to out all the players of the opponent team, then, that team is entitled to 2 extra points as a bonus. This is termed as “Lona”.

Playing Area

For competitions the ground should be a leveled soft mat which should measure

• 13m by 8m for men & junior boys;
• 12m by 6m for women and junior girls;
• 11m by 6m for sub-junior boys and girls.

Officials

Umpire

The umpire conducts the match and gives decisions according to the rules of the game.

Referee

The duties of kabaddi referee are as follows:-

• To conduct a toss.
• Announce the score of each team before the declaration of the last five minutes
• Generally supervise the conduct of the whole game
• Record the time including the start and end of the game
• Announce for substitutions & replacements

Scorer

Following are the duties of the scorer in the play:-

• Filling of the score sheet and announcement of the score with the permission of the referee at the end of each half
• Make notes of the team winning the toss
• Keeping the note of the timing at the beginning and end of each half of the game.
• Completion of the score sheet covering all the aspects and get it duly signed by the umpires and referees.