British Kabaddi League kicks off this weekend – Times of India

Ten men’s teams will play in the first grand prix of the professional British Kabaddi League (BKL), which starts this weekend in Wolverhampton. The UK will also host the Kabaddi World Cup in 2025 in the West Midlands – the first time it has ever been held outside India.

There is also now an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Kabaddi in Britain. “There was a time when I was struggling to put one professional team together,” Ashok Das, president of the England Kabaddi Association, recalls.

Now kabaddi is growing in popularity in Britain especially during the cost of living crisis. “Families want to send kids to sport but it costs a lot to send them to football or cricket whereas in kabaddi there is no need to spend a penny – just bring them to training. The sport is good for lungs and you need to make quick decisions. ”

The BKL was formed in April last year by the England Kabaddi Association and Scottish Kabaddi, supported by the business and tourism programme of the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games which aims to elevate the region as a host of major sporting events and by the West Midlands Growth Company. There will be three heats in Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Walsall, followed by the finals in Glasgow on May 27 and 28.