Defending champions Bangladesh will face Chinese Taipei in the final match of the 12-nation Bangabandhu Cup '2023 International Kabaddi Tournament on Tuesday (March 21) at 12.15 pm at the Shaheed Noor Hossain Volleyball Stadium here. State Minister for Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan Russell MP will be the chief guest in Tuesday's final and will distribute the trophies at the closing function to be chaired by president of the Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation (BKF) and Inspector General of Bangladesh Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun  Last two times champions Bangladesh stormed into the final eliminating Thailand by 45-26 points in the first semifinal Monday afternoon after dominating the first half by 17-11 points. With the day's feat, Bangladesh earned the right to play in the World Cup and Asian Games Kabaddi directly as the finalists of the ongoing meet.  Chinese Taipei booked a seat for the final eliminating Iraq by 52-44 points with two lonas (all-out) after leading the first half by 31-16 points. Cheng-Chih Chang of Chinese Taipei named as the man of the match.  In the day's first semifinal, Bangladesh, ranked number 5th in the world, had a cautious start against the 9th ranked Thailand.  Bangladesh initially went down by 2-3 points in the 6th minute of the match, but they leveled the margin 7-7 in the 13th minute. However, Bangladesh's inspiring captain Tuhin Tarafder ousted three Thai players in the 16th minute by a magnificent raid to change the scenario of the match.  Bangladesh earned the first Lona (all-out) by a superb raid by Tuhin and started firing all the cylinders.  After the first half, Bangladesh concentrated upon keeping the lead taking more points with raids rather than catching the Thai attackers.  However, Roman Hossain of Bangladesh branded a super performance in the dying minute with his precise catching.  Thailand raider Chayaphon Kamunee troubled Bangladesh defense line-up scoring eight points but the Thailand was unable to break the superiority of the defending champions. Tuhin Tarafder scored 11 points while Mizanur Rahman, the rising star, also bagged 11 points for Bangladesh.  Later, Tuhin Tarafder was adjudged the Man of the Match.    

Defending champions and host Bangladesh earned 2nd consecutive victory in the 12-nation  Bangabandhu Cup International Kabaddi Tournament' 2023 beating football world champions Argentina by 72-23 points  in their 2nd match at the Shaheed Nur Hossain Volleyball Stadium here on Tuesday. Bangladesh, which earned six creditable "lona" (all out) in the match against their Latin American rivals, clearly dominated the first half by  44-8 points. Mizanur Rahman of Bangladesh was adjudged the man of the match to receive prize money of BDT 10,000. Also Read: Bangabandhu Cup Int'l Kabaddi: Bangladesh make flying start beating Poland in opener Two South East Asian countries--Thailand and Indonesia also made a good start after winning their opening matches on the 2nd day of the Tournament at the same venue on Tuesday. Thailand beat last times semi-finalists Sri Lanka by 36-32 points in a hard-fought day's 2nd match after leading the first half by 20-16 points. Earlier in the day's first between two neighbor,  Indonesia defeated Malaysia by 36-23 points.  A record 12 twelve countries --England and Poland from Europe, Argentina from Latin America, Kenya from Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Chinese Taipei from South East Asia,  Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh from South Asia and Iraq from Middle East of Asia--are taking part in the eight-day  Participating teams are:  Group A- Bangladesh, Iraq, Nepal, England, Argentina and Poland Group B- Kenya, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Chinese Taipei.    

The first-ever franchise based Women's Kabaddi League, organized by Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation, begins here in January next year. The six franchise teams are: Motlab Thunders, Adventure Land Park, Bengal Warriors, Dhaka Twelves, Eco Fresh International and Techno Media -- will participate in the inaugural meet. Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation (BKF) from the very beginning took the initiative to arrange franchise based men's kabaddi league, but it was possible due to various reasons and finally they decided to organize Women's Kabaddi in next January. Meanwhile, BKF formed a strong committee to arrange the Franchise Women's Kabaddi League with Federation's joint secretary and additional DIG (Development) of Bangladesh Police Gazi M Mozammel Haque as chairman and Federation treasurer Arif Mihir as the member secretary. The committee in its last meeting on Saturday, finalized the league schedule and format. Kabaddi Federation will select 12 players for every participating team with one icon player in each side without any players drafted and later all the 72 players of the six teams will be given a two-month long training prior to the league under the supervision of Kabaddi Federation. The remaining 66 players except six icons, will be put in different categories and different payment structures. Six Icon players are: Bristi Biswas, Rupali Akhter, Hafiza Akhter, Sharmin Sultana, Dishamoni Sarkar and Smriti Akhter.  

Kabaddi, the national game of Bangladesh, has been on the sideline due to a lack of mainstream popularity. But the situation is changing as more and more people are showing interest in the game. Much of that can be attributed to the Pro Kabaddi League organized in India which has generated quite a buzz around the game. For people looking to get into the game virtually, there are mobile games for iOS and Android platforms. With that said, here are some of the best kabaddi games for mobile phones. Top 9 Open Source Hadudu Games for Smartphones Kabaddi Fighting Pro Wrestling Kabaddi Fighting Pro Wrestling was released in 2018 and developed by VTD gamers. It has a 33 MB download size and over 100K downloads on the play store. There isn’t any official rating on the game yet. The game itself takes a more caricature approach to the gameplay. Granted the size, it is not a graphics-heavy game. It's more like a casual game in which players can go about a round by round. The highlight of the game has to be its controls and maneuvers. Other than that, it’s mostly a 2D rendition mimicking the actual game. The game is free to download exclusively on the play store. Read eSports: How to Build a Career in Online Multiplayer Gaming Play Kabaddi Play Kabaddi was developed by Epsilon Digital Game Studio in 2019. The game has a 2.7 MB download size with a 2.7 rating on the play store. It has over 500K downloads on the platform as well. Play Kabaddi is also a minimal 2D game based on the simple principles of the game. Rather than going into the nitty-gritty details, players will have a set time to raid the opponent's court with left, right, forward and backward control. The game brings the innate essence of Kabaddi with minimal graphics and gameplay. The game is available free to download exclusively on the play store. kabaddi Fighting 2020 Kabaddi Fighting was released in 2020 and developed by Yeah Games. The game has a 49 MB download size with a 3.3 rating on the play store. The game has been downloaded over 500k times on the platform. Read Top Free Kite Flying Games for iOS and Android Similar to the Pro wrestling 3D game, it brings 3D graphics which makes the gameplay unique and engaging. There is a mix of Kabaddi and wrestling here so players will get to experience something new. There is a controller joystick as well as move shortcuts within the gameplay. The game is free to download exclusively in the play store.

Bangladesh Army and Bangladesh Police made good start in the Victory Day Kabaddi Tournament’21 beating their rivals in two opening day matches at Kabaddi Stadium here on Wednesday.    Bangladesh Army beat Bangladesh Navy by 34-26 points while Bangladesh Police Club outplayed Meghna Kabaddi Club by 44-24 points.  Read: Bangladesh Police clinch Women’s Kabaddi League title Earlier, State Minister or Youth and Sports M Zahid Ahsan Russell naugurated the meet Wednesday afternoon, organized by Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation (BKF) under the co-operation of the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs. The day’s opening ceremony was chaired by President of Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation and Director General of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun. Federation general secretary and DIG, Dhaka Range of Bangladesh Police Habibur Rahman was also present.

The Pro Kabaddi League will return in 2021 for its eighth season. A notable number of overseas players were acquired on the second day of the Pro Kabaddi League's 2021 auction. The auction had a total of 8 Bangladeshi participants. Three Bangladeshi players were picked at the auction by three different franchise teams. Previously, a notable number of Bangladeshi players competed in the Indian professional kabaddi competition. However, this will be the first season in which three Bangladeshi players participate in a single season. Take a look at which Bangladesh players were acquired in the Pro Kabaddi League 2021 auction.   Bangladesh Players in Pro Kabaddi League 2021 There were eight Bangladeshis on the auction list, which included 442 players from all around the world. The Pro-Kabaddi auction this time had the most number of Bangladeshi participants. The majority of the players were separated into three groups: 'A, B, and C.' New players, on the other hand, were not included in any of the categories. All-rounder Zakir Hossain, defender Ziaur Rahman, Sabuj Mia, Tuhin Tarafdar, and Monirul Islam were all put in the 'C' category. Raiders Arduzzaman, Hasan Ali, and Masood Karim were in the 'C' category. A maximum budget of Rs 4 crore was available to each side for player acquisition. Among the Bangladeshi players, Tuhin Tarafdar, Masud Karim, and Ziaur Rahman were all purchased by three pro-kabaddi teams on day 2 of the auction.   Read: 16th Premier Division Kabaddi League begins Saturday The three players picked during the auction are as follows: Ziaur Rahman, Bengaluru Bulls (INR 12.20 Lacs) Bengaluru Bulls paid INR 12.20 lacs for Ziaur Rahman. The basic price for defender Ziaur Rahman was ten lakh rupees. He will be joined by a slew of world-class players in Bengaluru's team. Tuhin Tarafdar, Tamil Thalaivas (INR 10 Lacs)  Young defender Tuhin Tarafdar was purchased for INR 10 lacs by Tamil Thalaivas. He was a player in the ‘C' category. Md Masud Karim, UP Yoddha(INR 10 Lacs)  Veteran Raider Masud Karim was purchased by UP Yoddha for a basic fee of INR 10 lacs. He was a part of the same team in the previous edition of the Pro Kabaddi League. Read Pro Kabaddi Tournament Could Rejuvenate Bangladesh’s National Sport Pro Kabaddi League 2021: Meet the Teams  The Pro Kabaddi competition is an Indian professional franchise-based Kabaddi league. It was founded in 2014 with the goal of spreading the game throughout India. The T20 format Indian Premier League inspired the format of the competition.   The Pro Kabaddi League 2021 will include a total of 12 teams.Bengal Warriors (Kolkata), Bengaluru Bulls (Bengaluru), Dabang Delhi KC (Delhi), Gujarat Giants (Ahmedabad), Haryana Steelers (Sonipat), Jaipur Pink Panthers (Jaipur), Patna Pirates (Patna Ranchi), PuneriPaltan(Pune), Tamil Thalaivas (Chennai), Telugu Titans (Hyderabad Vizag), U Mumba (Mumbai), and UP Yoddha (Lucknow).  Patna Pirates are the most successful franchise team in the league. They have won the league three times in a row. Their most recent championship was in 2017. Bengaluru Bulls, Bengal Warriors, Jaipur Pink Panthers, and U Mumba all have won one league title. The defending champion is the Bengal Warriors. Read Bangladesh Ansar clinch National Women’s Kabaddi title Bottom Line  The presence of Bangladeshi players in the Pro Kabaddi League 2021 would increase the interest of Bangladeshi fans in the league. Bangladeshi players will be able to showcase their potential if they are given regular opportunities to play. Furthermore, they will have the opportunity to improve their skills by playing against top opponents on a regular basis. The launch of a professional kabaddi league in India has already proven to be a success. The development of Kabaddi in Bangladesh requires government support. In this respect, professional Kabaddi League may be an ideal option.

 

Here we look back at some of the notable achievements in the sporting arena (barring cricket and football) for Bangladesh in 2019:

Bangladesh Navy emerged champions in the Premier Division Kabaddi League beating Bangladesh Army by 39-37 points in the final at the Kabaddi Stadium here on Monday morning.

Bangladesh Junior Kabaddi team got off a flying start in the First Junior Kabaddi World Cup’2019 beating Afghanistan by 84-11 points in a  Group C match at Kish Island National Stadium in Iran on Monday.