Revive pro league to save kabaddi, says coach

MARDAN: Pakistan kabaddi team coach Badshah Gul has said that in order to arrest the decline of the sport in the country the authorities will need to revive professional league.

“The kabaddi league held in 2017 had benefited the country. Had that league been retained for the next two or three years then it could have produced 250 players which could ensure the country’s future in the sport,” Badshah Gul told The News in an interview.

“It’s very important to revive this league which will help the country arrest it’s kabaddi decline. There is no doubt in it that we have been facing critical time as far as the growth of kabaddi is concerned,” he stressed.

“The Pro League attracts media and so sponsors and players also earn money which also motivates youngsters to adopt kabaddi as their career” Gul said.

Pakistan’s recent performance in the 19th Asian Games posed a question mark for the kabaddi governing body in the country (PKF). Although luckily the nation finished with a bronze medal but it badly lost to Iran and India which has indicated that Pakistan will need to arrest the decline of the sport in which once Pakistan was considered as a leading nation of the world after India.

And Gul admitted that kabaddi has declined.

“We have only four teams in the shape of WAPDA and armed forces and they have the sufficient number of players but the stuff lacks quality,” Gul said.

“You can only improve the skills of the players if you provide competitions to them on consistent basis. When the players will get events they will feel their weaknesses and will go for improving their skills,” he said.

He pointed out that Pakistan players rarely compete and so are unable to leave any impression at any major stage.

“Asian Games matches were also practice games for us and this is a big issue. Look, players featuring in Pro Kabaddi season get hundreds of matches and so they improve and our players suffer due to insufficient exposure,” Gul said. He said mat kabaddi has become very fast.

“Mat kabaddi is very fast and it’s our weakness as our players’ reflexes are too low and there are a few players with us playing on mat,” Gul said.

“If we are to develop in mat kabaddi we will direly need to bring in youngsters and work on them and groom them,,” he said. Gul said that for producing quality there is a huge need of competition and merit.