Punjab wins silver in blind kabbadi event

Following the popularity of the World Kabaddi Cup,the Indian Blind Sports Association (IBSA) has also introduced the game in their competitions.

In the National Games for Blind held last month in New Delhi,10 teams had participated in the Kabaddi competition — introduced for the first time — and the team from Punjab had won the Silver medal. Gurpreet Singh Machiwara,executive member of IBSA,who was with the Punjab team,said: “We defeated Shimla in the semi final and competed with Tamil Nadu in the finals where we lost by 55-65. Teams from Haryana,Rajasthan and Uttrakhand also competed in this game.”

He added: “In April,national games for under 16 blind players will be hosted in Baddowal village in Ludhiana. We will play a demo match to introduce kabaddi to the players as well as the public. We want the state government to depute a coach for the game.”

Before the National Games for Blind,players from across the state camped at a hostel on Gill Road where they practiced for two months. Satnam Singh,captain of the kabaddi team,said