Kabaddi teams start arriving on April 30

Asian Championship

KARACHI: Foreign teams including India will start arriving in Islamabad on April 30 to feature in the Asian Kabaddi Championship (circle style) which will be held at POF Wah from May 2 to 6.

“Yes, foreign teams will start arriving in Pakistan on April 30. By May 1 all will be here,” Pakistan Kabaddi Federation’s (PKF) secretary Mohammad Sarwar told ‘The News’ from Islamabad on Wednesday.

He said all teams had been issued visas. Iran, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan are the other teams in the five-day affair which is being hosted by Pakistan for the second time.

Pakistan staged this event in Lahore in 2012.

Pakistan are the defending champions.

In Lahore competitions Pakistan beat India after a nail-biting affair, which ended on a controversial note as India forfeited the last few minutes owing to what they called “biased refereeing”.

Sarwar said all preparations had been completed. “The event will be opened formally by POF Wah chairman Lt Gen Umar Mehmood at 7:30pm,” said Sarwar, who is also the secretary of Asian Kabaddi Federation (AKF).

He said that Pakistan would announce its final squad on May 29. As many as 28 players have been training at Islamabad for the assignment which is expected to pull large crowds.  Faryad Ali and Shehzad Hanif are delivering their services in the camp as coaches.