Junior Kabaddi World Cup likely to be held in Iran

KARACHI: Junior Kabaddi World Cup is expected to be held in Iran later this summer, a senior official of Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) revealed on Wednesday, writes Alam Zeb Safi.

“Yes, Junior Kabaddi World Cup is proposed to be held in Iran in September. It will be the first time that such an event will be held in which under-19 players will feature,” PKF secretary Mohammad Sarwar told ‘The News’ here on Wednesday.

Sarwar on Wednesday flew out from here for Chinese Taipei to attend a meeting of the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) on May 14. “In the meeting Junior World Cup (Asian style), activities calendar for 2019 and some discussion on new rules and other topics will be held,” said Sarwar, also the IKF vice-president.

Sarwar said that holding events like Junior World Cup is important. “It will help nations build their nurseries which will in turn strengthen their kabaddi future,” said Sarwar, who led Pakistan kabaddi team from 1989 to 2004.

In order to form a strong team for World Cup, PKF plans to hold Inter-Provincial Under-19 Championship and National Under-19 Kabaddi Championship after Ramazan. “We will soon hold such events after Eid-ul-Fitr to form a good team for World Cup,” the official said.

He said that the PKF would be working on two teams. The juniors would be preparing for the global event and the seniors for the 13th South Asian Games.

“We have requested the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and hopefully we will get camps for both the assignments,” Sarwar said. He said that Pakistan would have to make all-out effort to revitalise the sport as several other nations had improved. “Yes, Iran and South Korea have improved a lot. Definitely the nations who work harder get improved. We have already picked 30 juniors after extensive trials and I hope they are capable of becoming future stars. The Under-19 World Cup will also help us find such players who could be used in the 2022 Asian Games,” Sarwar said.

Iran and South Korea created a stir last year in the Asian Games in Indonesia when they blasted their way into the continent’s biggest kabaddi event final. Iran became the only team after India in the Asian Games kabaddi history to win the title when they beat South Korea in the decider.

Pakistan claimed fifth bronze in the event. India, who won seven Asiad titles on the trot after kabaddi’s induction in the 1999 Beijing Games, finished fourth. Pakistan were the runners-up in the Asian Games in 1994 and 1998.

In South Asian Games, India lead with nine gold medals. Pakistan won the gold medal in 1993. Pakistan have six silver medals. Bangladesh have three and India one. Pakistan claimed three bronze in SAG.

Sarwar said that they would need a much better nutrition policy for boys as strength was the key in kabaddi.

He also said that the Super Kabaddi League (SKL) would be held in August and September. “The league got delayed because some of the players had gone to England and Canada for professional leagues. Hopefully our own league will be held in August and September,” the official said.

SKL was launched last year in Lahore in which a bunch of foreign players were also seen in action. Strawberry Sports Management owns the league. PKF provides technical support.