Kabaddi World Cup 2016: Iran holds on to its Kabaddi history with an iron grip

The argument continues even as Iran prepare to take on South Korea in the semi-final of the international event in Ahmedabad. A win there would take them to the final — their third — where they will face the winner of the match between Thailand and India. Sheykh hopes it’s India.

Iran, though, continue to maintain they have chronological precedence over Indian kabaddi. Their manager Mojtaba Tazike stepped in to support his comrade.

“No my friend, we made the game,” he told Suthar.

Sheykh, meanwhile, switched on a nearby computer to open an internet page on the ancient archaeological site of Shahr-e-Sukhteh, discovered in the early 20th century in the Sistan area of Iran – a hotbed of kabaddi. “Kabaddi mentioned over there in the ruins. 5,000 years…,” he added.

Iranians claim their heritage and role in the sport with a great degree of pride and passion, and it’s with the same gusto that the team has started breaking ground on the international stage.

A unique style of training is what makes the West Asian outfit a formidable opponent. While their Indian counterparts work continuously on training in the sport itself, the Iranians are all certified wrestlers and train for ‘Kushti’ even during kabaddi camps.

“That’s where they get that unmatched muscle power in their holds,” explains Bhaskaran Edachery, who coached the Indian team to the 2010 Asian Games gold.

Furthermore, their style of ‘kushti’ has a certain element that makes it even more useful on the kabaddi mat. During training sessions, the Iranians drench themselves in oil and wrestle in an attempt to improve their gripping technique.

“Oil makes the body very slippery. So they have to work extra hard to get a good grip while wrestling. You need a lot of strength for that. So when they’re playing kabaddi, their defenders have that technique and extra power to help them,” explains Raju Bhavsar, who was part of the Indian team that won at the 1990 Asian Games.

Even in their current squad, the assistant coach Daliri Ebad is a certified wrestling coach. Their star defender Fazel Atrachali takes up competitive wrestling during the off-season to help him keep up in kabaddi.

Interestingly enough, while Iran is considered a strong favourite to lift the title in Ahmedabad, the country didn’t make its Asian Games debut till 2006. Two years later, their federation took the crucial decision of inviting former India captain Ashan Kumar to coach their team for the 2010 Asian Games.

“They had seen and played the game before, but it was more a ‘timepass’ sport. The people there were quite lazy about it,” recalls Ashan, who skippered the 1990 Indian team at the Beijing Asian Games. “So I immediately told the Iranian federation that I will do things my way and want no interference. They agreed,” he adds.

The first step was to get the otherwise lethargic players to work on their fitness.

“Unko din raat bhagaaya. Acche se ragadaya,” he recalls. The 55-year-old holds special memories of Atrachali as well, remembering him as a notoriously lazy player.

“I used to hit him with a stick all the time. Bahut maar khaya. He even complained about me. And look at him today. He’s the best defender in the world,” Ashan says.

The former India skipper led Iran to a silver medal at Guangzhou 2010. Four years later, sans Ashan, Iran lost the final against India yet again. It was a match, however, that India captain Rakesh Kumar mentioned as the one India ‘should not have won’, so close the Iranians came to causing an almighty upset.

At home, the set-up provides for a three-month long national championship in which 16 teams compete from all regions. The better players have steadily been catching the eye of scouts of the Pro Kabaddi League.

Through their own style or training and research, Iran has steadily made itself a giant in the modern game. So much so that Rakesh asserted after the Incheon final that Pakistan no longer remains India’s biggest threat.

“It’s not about beating Pakistan anymore. It’s the one against Iran that we cannot afford to lose,” he had said.

Iran, in turn, has its own challenge against India. Enroute to the playoff stage of the World Cup, a relatively lax performance saw them shockingly lose to Poland. But they didn’t make much for it.

“That match didn’t matter,” Sheykh says. For Iran, their only goal is to beat India.