Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: 5 PKL stars who have played other sports as well

The Pro Kabaddi League Season 5 is all set to start on July 28 and will be bigger and better than ever. The latest edition will feature 12 teams, after four new ones were added, divided into two zones and facing off in a total of 138 matches across three months.

The world’s best raiders, defenders and all-rounders will be on show in this kabaddi extravaganza. However, there will be a few stars who are not only experts at kabaddi, but also have excelled at other sports earlier in their careers. Let’s take a look at them!

#1 Jang Kun Lee

The star raider from South Korea has been one of the shining lights of the Pro Kabaddi League across the last few years. In 51 matches, he has amassed a whopping 262 points and also took his national side to a third-place finish at the Kabaddi World Cup last year.

However, he was introduced to kabaddi only in 2012. Prior to that, he was already an expert in judo and taekwondo, and has used the skills from those martial arts in kabaddi as well. Apart from that, he has also dabbled in rowing – a sport which requires great core strength and is quite handy for a raider in kabaddi.

#2 Manjeet Chhillar

Chhillar initially started out as a wrestler

One of the great icons of the sport as well as the league, the all-rounder has an Arjuna award to his name and has been a part of the India lineup for over a decade. In the PKL, he has played for the Bengaluru Bulls and Puneri Paltan previously, and in season 5, he will turn out for the Jaipur Pink Panthers.

Kabaddi wasn’t his first choice growing up though, as it was wrestling that caught his fancy first and he trained to be a world-class wrestler as a young kid. However, he suffered an injury to his nose and thus, started playing kabaddi with his friends in Nizampur. And what a decision that turned out to be!

#3 Fazel Atrachali

Fazel Atrachali uses his wrestling skills in kabaddi to great effect

Another former wrestler in this list, the Iranian powerhouse is one of the biggest names in the Pro Kabaddi League. He has won the league two times – in Season 2 with U Mumba and in Season 4 with the Patna Pirates, which also saw him winning the Best Defender award in the latter.

Iran has a rich legacy in the sport of wrestling and Fazel also wrestled growing up. He admires Hamid Sourian, the six-time Greco-Roman World Champion, and also uses the skills he has picked up playing the sport on the kabaddi mat – sending opposition raiders flying with his powerful dashes and stopping them with his herculean body blocks.

#4 Takamitsu Kono

Takamitsu Kono is a third-generation monk

The all-rounder from Japan will turn out for the Puneri Paltan in the upcoming season of the PKL and was vice-captain of his national team at the World Cup in 2016. What makes him truly stand out is that he is also a third-generation Buddhist monk and studies Buddhism at the Taisho University in Tokyo.

At the University, he initially played rugby and was a part of the institution’s training camp. However, he switched to another contact sport in the form of kabaddi after starting with the University team and over time, he developed his skills in the sport and went on to represent his nation at the World Cup as well.

#5 Phelix Odhiambo Opana

Opana was part of the Kenya side at the Kabaddi World Cup

Opana is raider from Kenya and was part of their national team at the World Cup last year. He represented the Bengal Warriors in Season 3 and 4, and has one match under his belt that saw him win seven raid points and two tackle points.

However, he was a rugby player back home in Kenya and started playing kabaddi seriously after being introduced to it by compatriot Simon Kibura. In an interview with Sportskeeda from Season 3, he stated that rugby requires the same skill set as kabaddi and his experience in that sport has helped him on the mat a lot.

Edited by Staff Editor