Kabaddi Championship in Mumbai

Kabaddi Championship

MUMBAI: With the aim to revive interest in Kabaddi, We Care Foundation and Air India have joined hands to organise Corporate National Kabaddi Championship from 23-27 November at Maharashtra State Kabbadi Association ground in the historic Shivaji Park.

The tournament, which is into it's fourth edition, will offer a prize purse of over Rs 500,000 for the winning teams along with a artistic trophy.

The event, which is being under the auspices of Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India and Maharashtra State Kabaddi Association, will witness 26 teams across the country competing hard to win the top spot.

Some of the corporate teams taking part in the event are Air India, ONGC, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mahindra & Mahindra, Vijaya Bank, Baba Atomic Research Centre, Union Bank, Dena Bank, Fire Brigade, Central Civil Services, and Haryana Police among others.

Lending support to the cause of kabbadi are former Indian hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay, Cricketer Pravin Amre, Kabaddi players Raju Bhavsar, Ashok Shinde, Ganesh Shetty and Secretary of Air India’s Sports Promotion Board Dilip Pinge.

The organisers also hope to attract sizeable crowd particularly since it's being held in Shivaji Park, a hub of sporting activities for budding sportsmen and sports lovers alike.

The five day tournament will begin with a celebrity kabbadi match between top hockey, cricketers, football, kabaddi players and bollywood personalities.

Nationalist Congress Party MLA and We Care Foundation Chairman Kiran Pawaskar, "Our effort is to generate interest for kabaddi amongst the Indian youth. We have involved and invited several role models of kabaddi to inspire the youth and I hope the game gets a major boost across the country through this tournament.”

Kabaddi matches put off after Sharad Pawar attack

The attack on union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar in the capital has sparked widespread protests in the state. This has resulted in the cancellation of the Thursday’s game of the ongoing fourth Corporate National kabaddi championship at Shivaji Park.
“We strongly condemn the cowardly attempt on Pawar. To show our solidarity, we hereby announce the cancellation of today’s matches,” said Kiran Pawaskar, NCP MLC and president of the championship, in a release. He further said, “We respect the rules, regulations and the spirit of the sport and will follow the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India’s norms. As a result, Thursday’s cancelled matches will be scheduled for Friday.”
Meanwhile, former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah has condemned the attack on Pawar. Shah was the board’s secretary when the NCP leader was its president.