Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India is the organizing body in the country that takes care of organizing the matches of Kabaddi. The 21st century has augured well for the traditional sports in India, especially Kabaddi. A lot of emphasis has been given towards the promotion and upliftment of the game. Ever since the game Kabaddi was established as a main sport discipline in the XI Beijing Asian Game in 1990, there has been a stable development in the progress of this traditional game at both national and international levels.
Origin of Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India
Kabaddi is a contact sport that began in Tamil Nadu in ancient India. It is one of the most popular sports in India. Four forms of kabaddi are played in India. They are Amar, Suranjeevi, huttuttoo and Gaminee. Amar is generally played in Punjab and Haryana. Suranjeevi is the form used in playing international matches. Huttuttoo was earlier played in Maharashtra. In 1950 the All India Kabaddi Federation came into existence and created standard rules for Kabaddi in India. The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) was then founded in 1973. After the foundation and the formation of the committee of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India, the first men`s nationals were held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Kabaddi Matches by Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India
In 1979, test game between Bangladesh and India was held at different places like Mumbai, Hyderabad and Punjab. The Asian Kabaddi Championship was arranged in 1980 and India emerged as champion of the series. Bangladesh became the runners-up again in 1985 in the Asian Kabaddi Championship held in Jaipur, India. The other teams in the tournament were Malaysia, Nepal and Japan. The game Kabaddi was included for the first time in the Asian Games in 1990, in Beijing. There, India won the gold medal. India has also won gold at the six Asian Games in Hiroshima in 1994, Bangkok in 1998, Busan in 2002, Doha in 2006 and Guangzhou in 2010.
One of the landmark stages for Kabaddi in India came when it was included as a priority sport in 2nd Asian Indoor Games at Macau (SAR-China). Entire credit goes to the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India for working hard towards promoting the game at international stage. This opportunity has been very significant indeed as it provided a chance to the South East Asian countries to showcase their talents.
Rise to the International level
All the Asian nations played their role in making the game very popular among the people. Apropos, China was the first nation to include Kabaddi as a discipline in the 1990 Beijing Asian Games and 16 years later, she gave another opportunity to Kabaddi to make its debut in the Asian Indoor Games. This is a major stepping stone in the history of Kabaddi. Efforts made to incorporate the game in Asian Beach Games held at Indonesia in 2008 proved well, giving a further fillip to the game. The rise of Kabaddi was pioneered by the players who played with utmost passion and dedication.
Pro Kabaddi League
The Pro Kabaddi League, is a professional-level kabaddi league in India. Launched in 2014, it is broadcast on Star Sports. The league`s inauguration was influenced by the popularity of the kabaddi tournament at the 2006 Asian Games. The format of the competition was inspired by Indian Premier League cricket matches. Few of the teams playing Pro Kabaddi league are "Bengal Warriors", "Bengaluru Bulls", "Dabang Delhi KC", "Jaipur pink panthers", etc.
