Asian Kabaddi Championship in November in Golestan

Golestan Province in north Iran will host the Asian Kabaddi Championship in November 19-25.

Director general of youth affairs and sports office in the province, Bahman Tayyebi told IRNA that ten countries will participate in the tournament with separate areas for men and women.

Kabaddi is a contact team sport that originated in India. Two teams compete, each occupying its own half of the court. They take turns sending a ‘raider’ into the opposing team’s half and earn points if the raider manages to touch opposing team members and return to the home half, all while chanting word ‘kabaddi’. However, if the raider is tackled and prevented from returning, the opposing team gets the point.

Golestan is one of Iran’s main regions related to kabaddi and many athletes from this  province are members of Iran’s national team.

Iran has finished runner-up in the Kabaddi World Cup twice. In the first Women’s Kabaddi World Cup in India in 2012, Iran lost to India in the finals and in the 2016 world cup in India the Iranian men’s team lost to the host in the final game.