The Kalgidhar Team, representing the Shri Kalgidhar Gurdwara in Takanini, won the Champion Trophy at the Annual Kabaddi Tournament held at the Paptoetoe Sports Centre on May 1.
The Desh Punjab Sports & Cultural Club won the Runner-Up Trophy. Its junior team won the Championship Trophy for Under 20, with the Papamoa Team declared the Runner-Up.
The nationwide Tournament, organised by the Desh Punjab Sports & Cultural Club with the Papatoetoe Kabbadi Club Inc and ASB Bank, was held for the first time at the newly constructed premises
An Asian Game
Kabaddi is an outdoor team sport played in South Asia.
Two teams of perhaps five players each occupy opposite halves of a field roughly the size of a basketball court. The teams take turns sending a ‘raider’ across to the opposite team’s half, where the goal is to tag as many members of the opposite team as possible before returning to the home half.
Tagged members are sent off. The raider must not take a breath during the raid, and must prove it by constantly repeating the word ‘Kabaddi,’ while on the raid.
The defenders must form a chain, for example by linking hands; if the chain is broken, a member of the defending team is sent off.
Presumably, the team that loses all its players first loses the game.
Other Games
The programme included Soccer and Volleyball matches.
Auckland Lions and Punjabi Sath were respectively the Winner and Runner-up of the Soccer match, while Black Spikes and Aims were declared the Champions and Runner-up at the Volley Ball match.
Members of Parliament Ross Robertson (Labour), Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi (National), Auckland Councillor Gary Troup, John McCain, and community leaders Prithipal Singh Basra and Mohanpal Bath.
Desh Punjab President Resham Singh said that the Club proposed to write to the Sports Ministry to recognise Kabaddi as a New Zealand Game.
“Kabaddi is a great game and we would like to form a team with players representing various ethnic groups,” he said.
