Indo-International Premier Kabaddi League | Organisers aiming to take kabaddi to Olympics soon

Indo-International Premier Kabaddi League | Organisers aiming to take kabaddi to Olympics soon

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IPKL

After the huge success of the Pro Kabaddi League, the indigenous sport is going to have a second league from this year named Indo-International Premier League. With more number of international players, the organisers are pushing hard to take the sport of kabaddi into the Olympics in near future.

The Indo-International Premier Kabaddi League (IPKL) is the second league of the sport which will be in the standard format like PKL and unlike the World Kabaddi League that was the circle style. The popularity of the PKL is well known to everyone and this has also ensured the widespread growth of the indigenous sport of kabaddi all across the globe. There are many players from different countries mostly Korea and Iran excelling in the league which is a testimony to the fact that kabaddi also has a huge market outside the country.

The IPKL is being organised under the aegis of the New Kabaddi Federation (NKF) which has an aim of taking the sport into the Olympics very soon. The organisers have invited players from 16 different countries to take part in the league which will begin from May 13 and continue till June 4. There will be eight teams participating in the tournament in which the matches will be played across three venues Pune, Mysore and Bengaluru.

“NKF is started by players who had represented the country in international competitions in the past. The main motive is making our dreams come true that is taking kabaddi, the Indian game, to the Olympic level.  So, to do that, we had to give players the exposure,” NKF general secretary MV Prasad Babu told SportsCafe.

“We needed 42 countries to sign the letter requesting the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to get us permission for the addition of kabaddi game to Olympics. We wanted a platform where we wanted international players from different countries to participate. So the league was the best option.”

Pune Pride, Pondicherry Predators, Diler Delhi, Chennai Challengers, Bangalore Rhinos, Telugu Bulls, Mumbai Che Raje and Haryana Heroes are the eight teams who will lock horns against each other in the league which will comprise 44 matches in total. 

The players who will perform on the mat were selected from various rounds of trials across India. According to the tournament director and well-known film personality from the Telugu industry Ravi Kiran, they wanted an impartial selection of the players for the league. The videos of the selection trials were reviewed by well-known former internationals S Rajarathnam and C Honnappa Gowda.

“Arjuna Awardees and international players who had a passion for this game, they only started this (IPKL) to develop kabaddi and take out the discrepancies and partialities in the sport. It (kabaddi) is the fastest growing sport today in the world. More than half of the world has started playing kabaddi now. Our main intention is to put kabaddi on the Olympic pedestal,” Ravi Kiran told SportsCafe.

“We wanted an impartial selection of players. Only the top players who have spent years in kabaddi, they only selected the players. We had opened the registrations online, anybody who thought that he is a good player in kabaddi registered for the league. Nearly 5000 players registered and a lot of trials were held all around the country. Three rounds of trials, the players were filtered and then the final trials to select the best of the lot, especially from the grass root level. Raw talent what was there and people with enthusiasm were picked up. 160 of them were selected.”

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The organisers have a plan of getting more viewership to the sport despite the market being dominated by PKL which have been there since 2014. However, the IPKL officials don’t consider themselves to be a competition for the already existing league in India which will have its seventh edition starting from July this year. 

“In India, next to cricket and football, kabaddi is the main game. Between IPL and before the world cup, it is going to be the biggest event for India. The main attempt is to somehow ensure that kabaddi comes in the Olympics. It is not there right now. There are other kabaddi leagues but nobody is focussed towards bringing this up in the Olympics,” IPKL’s digital enhancement specialist Biju Menon said during a conversation with SportsCafe.

When asked about the competition with PKL, he replied, “Let’s not talk about the competitions right now. We are not here to compete with one league and other. PKL had a different thing. Best of the best performers we have involved. With more number of kabaddi games in India, kabaddi is getting better. Whether it is PKL or IPKL, kabaddi is going to be noticed like anything. Our motive is kabaddi game somehow has to be an Olympic game. So more the number of games, it is better for the sport.”

It has been scheduled right in between the Indian Premier League and the ICC World Cup and aims to capture an audience which loves kabaddi only after cricket which is treated as a religion in India. Again, with most of the well-known kabaddi players being a part of the PKL, it remains to be seen the quality of the players in the new league. The players who represented India in the last World Cup in 2016 and in the Asian Games last year are a part of the PKL. However, the organisers feel that the scheduling of the league and the players participating is not an issue at all and the tournament will be a grand success from the inaugural edition itself.

The tournament director also spoke about the lack of kabaddi action on television saying, “In a calendar year, they (PKL) do it for three months. So what about the other nine months which is free? Should kabaddi not come once or twice again. It will and it can. There is a place in that. Kabaddi lovers will definitely watch. Cricket they digest throughout the year. Similarly, only three months that league goes on, we don’t feel to compete. With one more league, so many other people will get chance who don’t get through in the other league. It is an opportunity and we should be proud that one more league is coming.”  

“We wanted to do it little earlier but then what happened is due to trails and selections we were delayed. Suddenly we found ourselves sandwiched between IPL and World Cup. India’s match in World Cup starts on 5th of June and the IPL gets over by the time we start our league. People want to watch something, some competition going on, some thrill they should get out of watching a sport. After cricket, it is only kabaddi which has got the lead in India. That is the no. 2 sport which has got the ratings next to cricket or almost nearer to that. People who will start following kabaddi from 13th will watch it till 4th June till the finals.”

Referring to the quality of players in IPKL, Menon explained, “120 crore humans in India and how can we classify that this guy is best and that guy is not. We want to give maximum opportunity to a maximum number of people. More games and more leagues, more number of talents will come out. This is just the beginning and we will take it to the rural level and village level.”

The IPKL tournament was launched in presence of former India cricketer Virender Sehwag and there will be live telecast of the entire league both in English and Hindi. The organisers have stated that they have already done international conferences on the sport and last time, 57 countries came in NKF’s support. With more number of countries playing kabaddi, they hope to take the sport into the Olympics in another couple of year’s time.

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