INTRODUCTION

Kabaddi is a contact team sport, played between two

teams of seven players each. The objective of the game is for
a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run
into the opposing team's half of a court, tag out as many of
their defenders as possible, and return to their own half of
the court, all without being tackled by the defenders, and in
a single breath. Points are scored tagged by the raider, while
the opposing team earns a point for stopping the raider.
Players are taken out of the game if they are tagged or
tackled, but are brought back in for each point scored by
their team from a tag or tackle.

It is popular in South Asia and other

surrounding Asian countries. Although accounts of kabaddi
appear in the histories of ancient India, the game was
popularized as a competitive sport in the 20th century. It is
the national sport of Bangladesh.[1][2] It is the state game of
the Indian states of Andhra
Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala,
Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar
Pradesh.
 There are two major disciplines of Kabaddi: so-
called Punjabi kabaddi, also referred to as "circle style,"
comprises traditional forms of the sport that are played on a
circular field outdoors, while the "standard style," played on
a rectangular court indoors, is a discipline played in major
professional leagues and international competitions such as
the Asian Games.The game is known by numerous names in
different parts of South Asia, such as: kabaddi or
chedugudu in AndhraPradesh; kabaddi in Maharashtra,
Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana; kabadi or ha-du-
du in Bangladesh; bhavatik in Maldives, kauddi or kabaddi in
the Punjab region; hu-tu-tu in Western India, hu-do-do in
Eastern India; chadakudu in South India; kapardi in Nepal;
and kabadi or sadugudu in Tamil Nadu.

History
The exact origins of Kabaddi are unclear. Although there is
no solid proof, theories from religious believers state that
Kabaddi originated from either the Vedic period of ancient
India, or the Sistan region of present-day Iran. The game was
said to have been popular among the Yadava people;
an abhang by Tukaram stated that the god Krishna played
the game in his youth, while the Mahabharata contains an
account of Arjuna being able to sneak into hostile areas also
take out enemies unscathed, which they are claiming that
parallels the gameplay of kabaddi.
There are also accounts of Gautama Buddha having played
the game recreationally.
Despite these conflicting claims, India has been credited
with having helped to popularize kabaddi as a competitive
sport, with the first organized competitions occurring in the
1920s, their introduction to the programme of the Indian
Olympic Games in 1938, the establishment of the All-India
Kabaddi Federation in 1950, and it being played as
a demonstration sport at the inaugural 1951 Asian
Games in New Delhi. These developments helped to
formalize the sport, which had traditionally been played in
villages, for legitimate international competition.
After being demonstrated again at the 1982 Asian Games in
Delhi, Kabaddi was added to the Asian Games' programme
beginning in 1990.

Variations of Kabaddi

A kabaddi court at the 2006 Asian Games.

In the international team version of kabaddi, two teams of

seven members each occupy opposite halves of a court of 10
by 13 metres (33 ft × 43 ft) in case of men and 8 by 12 metres
(26 ft × 39 ft) in case of women. Each has five supplementary
players held in reserve, i.e. for substitution. The game is
played with 20-minute halves with a 5-minute half break in
which the teams exchange sides. During each play, known as
a "raid", a player from the attacking side, known as the
"raider", runs into the opposing team's side of the court and
attempts to tag as many of the seven defending players as
far as possible for a raider. For a raid to be eligible for points,
the raider must cross the baulk line in the defending team's
territory, and return to their half of the field without being
tackled (note that if an attacker touches a defender and
hasn't yet reached the baulk line, they don't need to reach
the baulk line to score points and may return to their half of
the court). While doing so, the raider must also loudly chant
the word "kabaddi", confirming to referees that their raid is
done on a single breath without inhaling. A 30-second shot
clock is also enforced on each raid.
A point is scored for each defender tagged. If the raider
steps beyond the bonus line marked in the defending team's
territory, they earn an additional point known as a bonus
point. If the raider is successfully stopped, the opposing
team earns a point instead. All players tagged are taken out
of the game, but one is "revived" for each point a team
scores from a subsequent tag or tackle (bonus points do not
revive players). Players who step out of the boundary or
lobbies are also out. A raid where no points are scored by the
raider is referred to as an "empty raid". By contrast, a play
where the raider scores three or more points is referred to as
a "super raid". If a team gets all seven players on the
opposing team out at once ("All Out"), they earn two
additional points and the players are placed back in the
game.
Additional rules are used in the Pro Kabaddi League: if a
team has two empty raids in a row, the next raider must
score a point on their next raid, because the next raid is a
"do-or-die" raid. In this raid, the player must either get a
point or be out. If the raider does not get a point then the
opposite team will get a point and the raider will be declared
out. Additionally when fewer than four players left on the
field, tackles are worth 2 points ("super tackle").

Circle style

A circle kabaddi match being played in Bhimber.

There are four major forms of Indian kabaddi recognised by

the amateur federation. In Sanjeevani kabaddi, one player is
revived against one player of the opposite team who is out.
The game is played over 40 minutes with a five minute break
between halves. There are seven players on each side and
the team that outs all the players on the opponent’s side
scores four extra points. In Gaminee style, seven players
play on each side and a player put out has to remain out until
all his team members are out. The team that is successful in
outing all the players of the opponent’s side secures a point.
The game continues until five or seven such points are
secured and has no fixed time duration. Amar style
resembles the Sanjeevani form in the time frame rule, but a
player who is declared out stays inside the court while play
continues. For every player of the opposition touched "out", a
team earns a point. Punjabi kabaddi is a variation that is
played on a circular pitch of a diameter of 22 metres (72 ft).
International
competitions
The following competitions are played in standard format, for
that of circle style kabaddi, see Punjabi kabaddi.
Kabaddi World Cup.
The standard style Kabaddi World Cup is an outdoor
international kabaddi competition conducted by the
International Kabaddi Federation (IKF), contested by men's
and women's national teams. The competition has been
previously contested in 2004, 2007 and 2016. All the
tournaments have been won by India. India defeated Iran by
38-29 in the final of the championship game to clinch the title
of 2016.
After the establishment of a new kabaddi organization
named World Kabaddi Federation, a world cup in 2019
at Malacca, Malaysia will be organized. It will be the largest
world cup in kabaddi history, consisting of 32 men teams.
Asian Games

Kabaddi being played in Japan, 2015

Kabaddi has been played at the Asian Games since 1990.
The Indian national team had won every men's and women's
kabaddi competition in the Asian Games from 1990 through
2014. At the 2018 Asian Games, Iran became the first
country outside of India to win gold medals in Kabaddi, with
India's men's team winning bronze, and India's women's
team being beaten by Iran to win silver.

Pro Kabaddi League.

The Pro Kabaddi League was established in 2014. The league
modeled its business upon that of the Indian Premier
League of Twenty20 cricket, with a large focus on marketing,
the backing of local broadcaster Star Sports, and changes to
the sport’s rules and its presentation to make it more
suitable for a television audience. The Pro Kabaddi League
quickly became a ratings success on Indian television;
the 2014 season was watched by at least 435 million viewers
over the course of the season, and the inaugural
championship match was seen by 98.6 million viewers.

Women's Kabaddi
Challenge
Women’s Kabaddi Challenge is a women's kabaddi league.
The first season was played from 28 June to 31 July 2016
and was broadcast by Star Sports in India. Three teams took
part and the league played across seven cities in India. The
final was played alongside the men’s version on 31 July. The
Storm Queens produced a last-second turnaround to defeat
the Fire Birds 24-23.
Asian Kabaddi Championship
AKC's tenth season was played in Gorgan, Iran in 2017 in
which India won 10th gold by defeating Pakistan in the finals.
Kabaddi Masters
The inaugural edition of the Kabaddi Masters was held in
Dubai from 22 to 30 June 2018. It was the first Kabaddi
tournament to be held in the UAE. It featured 6 teams. India
won the tournament by defeating Iran in the final with a
scoreline of 44-26, with the Indian Defense out performing
the Iran Defense

Popularity
Kabaddi is a popular sport in the subcontinent. The Kabaddi
Federation of India (KFI) was founded in 1950, and it
compiled a standard set of rules. The governing body for
Kabaddi in Pakistan is Pakistan Kabaddi Federation.
In Bangladesh, there is a variation of Kabaddi called Ha-du-
du, going back to ancient times. Ha-du-du has no definite
rules and is played with different rules in different areas.
Kabaddi is the national sport of Bangladesh, given official
status in 1972.[2] The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of
Bangladesh was formed in 1973.
In Iran, the Community of Kabaddi was formed in 1996 (the
same year they joined the Asian Kabaddi Federation) and in
2001 they joined the International Kabaddi Federation. The
Iran Amateur Kabaddi Federation was formed in 2004.
Kabaddi is one of the national sports of Nepal. Kabaddi is
played and taught at a very early age in most primary
schools beginning in the third grade or so in most Nepali
schools. Kabaddi was also played by the British Army for fun,
to keep fit and as an enticement to recruit soldiers from the
British Asian community. Kabaddi was brought to the United
Kingdom by Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani immigrants.
The governing body for Kabaddi in the United Kingdom is
the England Kabaddi Federation UK.