Kabaddi

Kabaddi is a contact team sport where two sides of seven players compete. It is a traditional game from South Asia. The game involves a raider crossing into the opposing team's half to tag defenders and get back within 30 seconds without being tackled. Tagging earns points for the raider's team, while a successful tackle gives a point to the defenders. Players who are tagged or tackled leave the court temporarily but return when their team scores a point. Raids alternate between the two teams throughout the match.

The sport is widely played in South Asia and nearby Asian countries. While references to kabaddi exist in ancient India, it became a competitive sport in the 20th century. It is the national sport of Bangladesh and the third most popular and watched sport in India, after cricket and football. It is also the official state game of twelve Indian states: Punjab, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh.

There are two main forms. "Punjabi kabaddi," or circle style, is the traditional version played outdoors on a circular field. The "standard/rectangular style" is played indoors on a rectangular court and is used in major professional leagues and international events like the Asian Games.

The game has many names across the Indian subcontinent. It is called kabaddi or cheduguda in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana; kabaddi in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala; kabaddi, komonti, or ha-gu-da in West Bengal and Bangladesh; baibalaa in the Maldives; kauddi-kauddi in Sindh; kabaddi in the Punjab region; hu-tu-tu in Western India; ha-do-do in Eastern India; chadakudu in South India; kapardi in Nepal; kabadi or sadugudu in Tamil Nadu; and chakgudu in Sri Lanka.

The raider must perform each raid on a single breath and prove this by repeatedly chanting the word "kabaddi." The term itself comes from a Tamil word combining "Kai" and "Pidi," meaning "to hold hands."

According to scholar Ronojoy Sen, kabaddi may have originated during the Vedic period, between 1500 BC and 500 BC. There are accounts of both Siddhartha Gautama and Lord Krishna playing an ancient form of the sport. The sport is thought to have developed around Jallikattu, with a raider treated like a bull that must be tamed without touching it. Sangam Literature mentions a game called Sadugudu being played for ages. There are also accounts of kabaddi being played in Iran 2,000 years ago.

Modern kabaddi is a blend of various regional forms played across the Indian subcontinent. India helped popularize it as a competitive sport, with the first organized competitions in the 1920s, its inclusion in the National Games of India in 1938, the formation of the All-India Kabaddi Federation in 1950, and a demonstration at the 1951 Asian Games in New Delhi. These steps formalized a sport once played on muddy village fields for international competition. The first set of rules was drafted in Maharashtra in the 1920s, modeled on English sports. One early modern tournament, the All India Kabaddi Tournament in 1923, followed these rules. After another demonstration at the 1982 Asian Games, kabaddi became a full medal sport starting in 1990. The Pro Kabaddi League, launched in 2014, revolutionized the standard style by introducing changes such as a 30-second time limit for each raid, replacing the earlier rule based solely on the raider's breath.

In the international standard version, two teams of seven players occupy opposite halves of a court. For men, the court is 10 by 13 meters; for women, it is 8 by 12 meters. Each team has five reserve players. Matches consist of two 20-minute halves with a five-minute halftime break, during which teams switch sides. In each raid, the raider enters the defending team's half to tag as many defenders as possible. The raider must cross the baulk line into the defending territory and return without being tackled. If the raider touches a defender before reaching the baulk line, they do not need to cross it to score and may return immediately. Throughout the raid, the raider must loudly chant "kabaddi" to show they are not inhaling. Each raid lasts a maximum of 30 seconds. A point is awarded for each defender tagged with any part of the raider's body. If the raider steps over the bonus line when the defending team has six or more players, they earn an extra bonus point, but only if their trailing foot is in the air. If the raider is tackled, the defending team gets a point. Tagged or tackled players leave the game, but one is revived for each point a team scores from a subsequent tag or tackle.