India wins Kabaddi World Cup but the game loses face

21 November, 2011

India won the Kabaddi World Cup, 2011 after defeating Canada in the finals of the tournament. But the prize money was very less for a competition of the stature of the World Cup. The Cup was also marred by failed doping tests.

THE INDIAN Cricket team won the 2011 World Cup, and MS Dhoni was given a cheque of around Rs. 8.5 crore for the winning Indian team. The Indian Kabaddi team also won the Kabaddi World Cup, 2011, but they were handed over a meagre cheque amount of Rs 2 crore as prize money. With this kind of prize money, do you expect the youngsters of the country to choose cricket or kabaddi as their career? The writing is clear on the wall. Just to make things worse for kabaddi, Dhoni received more than 3 crores individually after India won the cricket world cup.

The Indian team had been tagged as favourites to win the kabaddi title and they did not disappoint anyone with their game. They thrashed the Canadian team in the finals with the score line reading 59-25. The tournament was held at Guru Nanak stadium in Jalandhar, Punjab, reported PTI. Kabaddi, as a sport, may not be popular among the Indian masses, so we do not see urban youths of the country taking up the sport. The sport may still be followed in some rural areas, but if the prize money and the players’ facilities do not improve, then we might not see the Indian team winning kabaddi matches in the future like the way we do now.

Kabaddi players train as hard as other sportsmen of the country, so they should also be duly rewarded. It has been seen in the past that various governments around the country announce cash prize money to other sports players, some of them also offer land to players etc., when they win major tournaments. But when India won the kabaddi world cup, all of them must have been sleeping. No major announcement has been made till date by any government stating extra prize money for the players.

Kabaddi World Cup, 2011 was marred by number of players who failed drugs tests. Hence, two participating countries, the US and Australia, had to be suspended from the event. It is not only these countries but players from other teams also who have failed the drugs test. It was the sport, which received a bad name, along with its players’.

One has to wonder why countries such as the US, Australia and the rest of the European teams used drugs, as they are already considered to be physically stronger than the players from the sub continent, who were the favourites for the title. The game of kabaddi needs lot of strength and stamina so they must have tried to improve upon their body by using drugs. It would definitely give them an edge over other teams, if they use performance enhancing drugs.

As far as Indian players are concerned, few of them failed the drug test. Most of the Indian players who play kabaddi are from villages and rural places, where their body takes a proper shape as they consume lots of milk and other natural products from an early age. They do not use drugs in order to meet the physical requirements of the game. The taking of drugs to improve performace in a game of endurance, somewhere breaks the myth that Indian sportspersons are naturally weak and don't have stamina.

Irrespective of the controversies in the tournament, one has to say that the competition met the quality standards of the sport, where India has always excelled in. India has won the Kabaddi world cup, every time it has taken place. By winning the World Cup, 2011, it was their fifth world Cup title too.