Asia Cup Kabaddi kicks off in Pakistan

HAIYANG, CHINA – JUNE 22: Nasir Ali (R) of Pakistan is tackled as his competes

Islamabad, Nov 2 – The second Asia Cup Kabaddi tournament was inaugurated by former prime minister and Pakistan Kabaddi Federation president Shujaat Hussain in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore. The tournament kicked off Thursday night amidst splendid fireworks and a musical event, reports Xinhua.

This is the first major sports event in Lahore after the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009.

The championship, featuring six teams, will continue till Nov 5 at the Punjab Sports Stadium.

Indonesia, the seventh participating team, was scheduled to reach Pakistan on Thursday morning but could not come due to visa issues.

All the players of the participating squads were brought to the stadium by horse carts and were welcomed with traditional Punjabi drum beats and Bhangra dance.

The six participating teams have been divided in two pools with India, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka placed in Pool A and Pakistan, Iran and Nepal in Pool B.

Two top teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals to be played Sunday followed by the final and playoff match for the third place Monday.

The organisers have allocated a cash prize of $15,790 (Rs.1.5 million) for the winners while the runners-up and third positioned teams will be awarded with cash prizes of $10,526 and $5,263 respectively.

The first match of the tournament was played between Pakistan and Iran followed by the match that India won against Afghanistan. The Pakistan team led by captain Musharraf Javed won the contest with a big margin.