India win men's world kabaddi final for the third consecutive time

For the third consecutive time, India won the men's final of the World Kabaddi Cup here Saturday by crushing arch-rivals Pakistan 59-22.

It was a one-sided match and Indian players dominated the game right from the beginning and maintained an initial lead till 9-0.With the title of World Cup Kabaddi, India got a prize money of Rs.2 crore and Pakistan took home Rs.1 crore while Canada clinched the third prize of Rs.51 Lakh.

At the end of the first half, India lead with a point difference of 34-9. India's raider Gagandeep Singh Gaggi Kheeranwali, Gurlal Ghanaur, Manminder Singh Sran and Sukhbir Sarawan bagged 10, 8, 8 and 7 points respectively whereas stoppers Ekam Hathur, Balbir Pala and Gurwinder Kahlwan scored 10, 7 and 4 points respectively.Pakistan's raiders Safeeq Butt and Mohammad Imran scored 5 and 3 points respectively while Pakistani stopper Sujad Gujjar bagged 5 points.

Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal met the players and formally inaugurated the match.Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, Pakistan Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Rana Masood Ahmed, Pakistan Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullha and Pakistan MP Sardar Malik also interacted with the players.

Sukhbir Singh Badal announced an increase in the prize money for the women title from Rs.51 lakh to Rs.1 crore from next year.It was a proud moment for Gagandeep Singh Gaggi Kheeranwali and Eakam Hathur as they both got Preet Tractors as prize after being declared as best raider and best stopper in the 3rd world cup kabbadi.

Priyanka Devi was declared the best raider and Jatinder Kaur was declared best stopper in the women's section. Both players were awarded with a Honda motor cycle each worth Rs.55,000.

Before the commencement of the final match between India and Pakistan, the chief minister honoured Olympians Baljeet Dhillon, Varinder Singh, Sanjeev Kumar (all hockey players), Manjeet Kaur and Brigadier Labh Singh (both athletes), Dronachariya Awardee Sukhchain Cheema and Arjuna Awardee Balwinder Singh Fidda.

23 nations to compete for World Cup Kabaddi

As many as 23 nations from all the six continents would vie for record prize money of Rs 4.54 crore in the forthcoming 3rd World Cup Kabaddi which will commence in Punjab on December one.Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said it was gratifying that 16 countries from all the six continents, including 8 countries having no player from Indian origin, would participate in the 3rd edition of World Cup Kabaddi. 

   He said Afghanistan, Argentina, Canada, Denmark, England, Iran, Italy, Kenya, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Scotland, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, USA besides India would play in the Men Section of the World Cup Kabaddi, Punjab-2012 which would be held from from December 1 to 15.
Canada, Denmark, England, Malaysia, Turkmenistan, US and India would play in Women Section. 
Mr Badal said that Punjab Sports Department was fully geared up to host the mega event and Kabaddi would enthrall the audience at Bathinda, Patiala, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Doda (Muktsar), Sangrur, Roopnagar, Chohla Sahib (Tarn Taran), Fazilka, Gurdaspur, Mansa, Jalandhar and Ludhiana.

 Bollywood Actor Akshya Kumar, Singer and Music Director Himesh Reshamiya, Actress Asin and Miss pooja are set to perform in the opening Ceremony on December First 2012.

Pakistan wins Second Asia cup Asia Cup Kabaddi title

Pakistan won the 2nd Asia Cup Kabbadi title in an unfinished thrilling final by 40-31 as the Indian team forfeited the tie on a technical objection raised by the hosts on Monday under lights before a full house of nearly thirty thousand spectators.
Speaker Punjab Assembly Rana Mohammad Iqbal and Indian Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukbir Singh Badal were the chief guests on the occasion and witnessed the absorbing tie with keen interest.
Pakistan were leading 36-31 midway through the second half when Indian ace attacker Suhkvinder Singh raided the Pakistani area for the second successive time , a big technical mistake as a player cannot go for attack for two times in a row.
At this point the match officials intervened and tried to control the situation by listening point of view of both the sides and finally upheld the protest of the home team on which the Indians refused to continue the game, forfeiting the match when ace of Pakistani team, Babar Gujjar entered the Indian area for attack but no one from the opposition made any move and Gujjar returned in jubilation taking Pakistani score to 40-31. Home side folded the first half 22-16 as Pakistani players demonstrated greater anticipation and agility to defy a strong Indian challenge amid roar from a packed gathering.

Pakistan’s superiority was evident from their lead which was seen at 10-7, 12-7 and the home team expanded the lead with collective efforts and superior display of skills on part of energetic Pakistani players.
Skipper Musharraf led from the front and received equal support from Sajjad Gujjar, Saddique Butt, Sajjad, Saifullah, Shafiq and Obaidullah who exhibited expertise in attacks.
Pakistani players applied forceful grips on occasions to get hold of Indian players to remain focus of attention.
The second half was the climax of the game as the Indian side made desperate efforts to equalize the score and in process got closer to the home side .Pakistani team maintained lead at 24-21, 26-23, 28-24, 30-25, 32-26, 33-27, 35-27, 35-29 and 35-30.
Indian teams most outstanding players were Garveet Singh, Balveer Singh, Naqveer Singh, Gourmeet Singh, Garu Lal Singh, Shalveer Singh , Monogeet Singh, Salvinger Singh , Biljeet Singh and Makasih Kumar.
Earlier, in a classification match for the third place, Iran thrashed lowly rated Nepal 72-27.
Later the Indian Punjab deputy chief minister and speaker Punjab Assembly gave away prizes to the players.

Second Asia Cup Kabaddi kicks off in Pakistan

The second Asia Cup Kabaddi tournament was inaugurated by former prime minister and Pakistan Kabaddi Federation president Shujaat Hussain in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore. The tournament kicked off Thursday night amidst splendid fireworks and a musical event, reports Xinhua.This is the first major sports event in Lahore after the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009. 

The championship, featuring six teams, will continue till Nov 5 at the Punjab Sports Stadium.Indonesia, the seventh participating team, was scheduled to reach Pakistan on Thursday morning but could not come due to visa issues.All the players of the participating squads were brought to the stadium by horse carts and were welcomed with traditional Punjabi drum beats and Bhangra dance. The six participating teams have been divided in two pools with India, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka placed in Pool A and Pakistan, Iran and Nepal in Pool B. Two top teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals to be played Sunday followed by the final and playoff match for the third place Monday.The organisers have allocated a cash prize of $15,790 (Rs.1.5 million) for the winners while the runners-up and third positioned teams will be awarded with cash prizes of $10,526 and $5,263 respectively.The first match of the tournament was played between Pakistan and Iran followed by the match that India won against Afghanistan. The Pakistan team led by captain Musharraf Javed won the contest with a big margin.Pakistan scored a splendid 53-21 win over Nepal in the 2nd Asia Cup kabaddi cup .Iran gave Kabaddi lesson to Afghanistan with 89-17 thrashing while India raced through easy 55-15 win over Sri Lanka.