Malaysia's KAM Eager To Host Women's Junior Kabaddi World Cup

By R. Vikneswaran KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 (Bernama) -- After almost all of its 2020 plans were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kabaddi Association of Malaysia (KAM) is hoping to get back into action once the government gives green light for resumption of contact sports. It includes the hosting of the Women’s Junior World Cup, which is supposed to take place in September this year but has been put on hold due to the global pandemic and restrictions on sporting events. KAM president M. Sathasivam said resuming the preparations for the world meet, as well as organising the Malaysian School Sports Council Games (MSSM) kabaddi competitions would be among the priority for the association. “We have been awarded the hosting rights by the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF), though few other countries also showed keen interest in hosting the meet. We will engage with IKF and our local authorities to decide on the new dates and a possible venue, after having identified states of Selangor, Sarawak and the National Sports Council complex in Bukit Jalil earlier. “If the government approves, we are also keen to host the three categories (under-12, 15 and 17) of MSSM competitions in Kedah, which is vital for the grassroots development. We will continue to promote kabaddi to the non-Indian community in the country to have more players taking up the sport,” he told Bernama. About 16 teams are expected to take part in the Women’s Junior World Cup. As men’s kabaddi has been in the Asian Games calendar regularly since 1990, while the women’s event included since 2010, Sathasivam said the association is also making efforts to bring back the sport into the Malaysian Games (Sukma) and make debut at the SEA Games. “Kabaddi is among the only few sports played without any equipment. This means kabaddi can be played easily anywhere, without having the need to spend much on equipment,” he stated. Besides Asian nations like Iran, Japan, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Indonesia and Thailand, the sport is also played in Spain, Kenya, Canada, Poland and Argentina. -- BERNAMA