Asia England Sports Photography
# A look at the Kabaddi World Cup as tournament is held outside of Asia for the first time

March 23rd, 2025 09:30 AM

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WOLVERHAMPTON, England (AP) — With acrobatics, skill and guise, raiders chanting "kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi" have been trying to elude defenders at the first Kabaddi World Cup to be held outside of Asia this week.

Men's and women's teams from nine countries have been taking part in the tournament in central England, where the finals were to take place on Sunday.

Kabaddi has likely been played in one form or another for some 4,000 years. Two teams of seven players line up opposite each other on a small court. One team attacks and the other defends. While attacking, one player – the raider – will enter the other team's half and attempt to touch as many of the opposition players as possible, or cross a bonus line in the opposition half, before returning to his or her half, all the while chanting the word "kabaddi."

The defending team will try to stop them by tacking the raider or pushing the raider out of the court after one of its players has been touched.

A raider can score points by successfully touching opposition players or crossing the bonus line and returning to their own team's half. Defenders can also score points, but any who are tagged or touched must exit the court. They can be revived by teammates if their team subsequently pulls off a successful raid over the course of the match. The team with the most points at the end of the match wins.

All Friday's matches took place in Walsall, where the University of Wolverhampton has a campus. Birmingham and Coventry also hosted matches, while the finals were to be staged in Wolverhampton.

Host nation England was to face India in the both the men's and women's sold-out title deciders.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports