Kabaddi

Kabaddi

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Wikipedia - Kabaddi

Kabaddi is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players, originating in ancient India. The objective of the game is for a single player on offense, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their players as possible, and return to their own half of the court, all without being tackled by the defenders in 30 seconds. Points are scored for each player tagged by the raider, while the opposing team earns a point for stopping the raider. Players are taken out of the game if they are touched or tackled, but return to the game after each point scored by their team from a tag or tackle.

It is popular in the Indian subcontinent and other surrounding Asian countries. Although accounts of kabaddi appear in the histories of ancient India, the game was popularised as a competitive sport in the 20th century. It is the national sport of Bangladesh. It is the second most popular and viewed sport in India after cricket. It is the state game of the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh.

There are two major disciplines: "Punjabi kabaddi", also called "circle style", comprises traditional forms of the sport that are played on a circular field outdoors, and the "standard style", on a rectangular court indoors, is played in major professional leagues and international competitions such as the Asian Games.

This game is known by numerous names in different parts of the Indian subcontinent, such as: kabaddi or chedugudu in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana; kabaddi in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala; kabaddi, komonti or ha-du-du in West Bengal and Bangladesh; baibalaa in Maldives, kauddi or kabaddi in the Punjab region; hu-tu-tu in Western India, ha-do-do in Eastern India; chadakudu in South India; kapardi in Nepal; kabadi or sadugudu in Tamil Nadu; and chakgudu in Sri Lanka.

History

A commemorative stamp depicting kabaddi's first appearance in the Asian Games in 1990

Ancient era

Origins of Kabaddi are not clearly understood. There are various theories regarding its place and time of origin. The sport is said to have existed in the Indian subcontinent since prehistoric times.

Rononjoy Sen speculates in his book Nation At Play, that kabaddi originated during the Vedic period (between 1500 BC and 500 BC). There are accounts of Gautama Buddha and Lord Krishna having played an ancient form of the sport.

According to another version of the sport's origins, kabaddi originated in Tamil Nadu. It was reportedly common among the Ayar tribal people who lived in the Mullai geographical region of ancient Tamil Nadu.

There are also accounts of kabaddi having been played in Iran 2,000 years ago.

Modern era

Modern kabaddi is a synthesis of the game played in various forms under different names in the Indian subcontinent. India has been first credited with having helped to popularise kabaddi as a competitive sport, with the first organized competitions occurring in the 1920s, their introduction to the programme of the Indian Olympic Games in 1938, the establishment of the All-India Kabaddi Federation in 1950, and it being played as a demonstration sport at the inaugural 1951 Asian Games in New Delhi. These developments helped to formalize the sport, which had traditionally been played on muddy surfaces in villages, for legitimate international competition.

The first framework of rules for the sport was prepared in Maharashtra in the 1920s, with English sports serving as a model for this formalisation. One of the earliest modern tournaments of the sport, the All India Kabaddi Tournament in 1923, was played according to these amended rules. After being demonstrated again at the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi, Kabaddi was added to the Asian Games programme beginning in 1990.

The advent of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) in 2014 revolutionised the standard style of the sport, with various rule changes being made; for example, whereas previously raids had no time limit, the PKL rules introduced the concept of a standard 30-second time limit for every raid.