New look Dabang Delhi unveils logo for Season 2 of Pro-Kabaddi League

Ms. Radha Kapoor(middle) speaks at the new Dabang Delhi logo unveiling ceremony with Sports Scientist Dr. Sandeep Kumar (left) and chief coach Honnappa Gowda

New Delhi, 15th June 2015:

Gearing up for the second season of Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL), a revamped Dabang Delhi team introduced its new logo and a set of highly qualified management at the back of an intense 15 day training camp at the Thyagaraj Sport Complex.

The franchise, as part of the DoIT Sports Management, has been pioneering the development of ‘Rurban’ (rural and urban) sports initiatives in its catchment areas of National Capital Region. And the logo is a symbolic emblem of unity, with the DD standing for ‘Dabang in Diversity’ / ‘Determined to Develop’, underlining Dabang Delhi’s commitment to institutionalize grassroots sports programs.

Radha Kapoor, owner of DoIT Sports Management (India) Pvt. Ltd said, "The response of India, spectators, viewers and sponsors alike, to a successful PKL Season 1 has been quite overwhelming. The debut viewership stood at 435 million, remarkably only second to IPL, lending credence to our objective of associating with a ‘RURBAN’ Indian sport. We are proud to say that Dabang Delhi through its initiatives is trying to make Kabaddi, which was considered a rural sport, a global sport (Olympics); a man’s game, to now being recognized and pursued by girls / women in urban cities!"

Ms.Radha Kapoor with the girl Kabaddi teams who interacted with Dabang Delhi players and coaches as part of their grassroot initiative

Determined to contribute in the development of kabaddi and nurture new sporting talents, Dabang Delhi has been organising camps and conducting talent scouting in rural belts of Haryana and UP to unearth young prospects for the sport. The franchise is also driven to encourage women’s sports development programs across the sports demographic dividend of India and in that direction held its first women / girls training camp here at the Thyagraj Stadium today.

Ahead of the new season, the Delhi-based franchise also appointed former Indian kabbadi captain Honnappa C Gowda, as the head coach and skills trainer, joining him is the teams’ second new recruit, Dr Sandeep Kumar, a specialist sports scientist, with skills in endurance and biomechanics.

"This is great time for the sport in India I am glad to represent Dabang Delhi and join them in developing a skilled and an astute kabaddi team. I look forward to my association with the team and hope to guide them to a title win this year," said Gowda, An Arjuna Awardee, who has one Asian Games, two SAF Games and three Asian Championship gold medals in his kitty.

Surjeet Narwal, Team owner Ms.Radha Kapoor, Head coach Honnappa Gowda and Rohit Kumar at the unveiling ceremony of Dabang Delhi

The Delhi-based franchise has some star players such as Surjeet Narwal, Jasmer Singh, Ravinder Pahal, Rakesh Singh. Some fresh faces like Jay Bahadur from Nepal, Yosuke Sasaki from Japan and among other young Indian players like Rohit Kumar have joined the team to add a strong balance of youth to the squad.

“Arjuna Awardee Honnappa Gowda’s joining the Dabang Delhi team was a good start for us and I feel his expertise in the sport will be excellent for our players. The team has been practicing really hard for season 2 and it looks a balanced outfit with a prefect mixture of youth and experience along with some new faces.” Radha Kapoor said.

Dabang Delhi opens their campaign in season 2 against Telegu Titans on 19th of July in Mumbai. The team will start their home matches on 8th of August with Bengal Warriors being the first team to visit the capital.