Kabaddi, is a contact sport, native to the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the most popular sports in India, played mainly among people in villages. India has taken part in four Asian Games in kabaddi, and won gold in all of them. Four forms of kabaddi played in India are Amar, Suranjeevi, huttuttoo, and Gaminee. Amar is generally played in Punjab, Haryana, the United States, Canada, and other parts of the world, mostly by Punjabi sportsmen. Suranjeevi is the most played form of kabaddi in India and the world. This is the form used in international matches generally and played in Asian Games. Huttuttoo was played by men in Maharashtra. In Gaminee style, seven players play on each side and a player put out has to remain out until all his team members are out. The team that is successful in outing all the players of the opponent's side secures a point. The game continues until five or seven such points are secured and has no fixed time duration.
Rakesh Kumar is a former Indian professional Kabaddi player and Coach of Haryana Steelers. He was the vice-captain of the Indian team that won the gold medal at the 2007 World Cup at Panvel, India. In 2011, in recognition of his achievements in the sport, he was awarded the Arjuna Award by the Government of India.
Pro Kabaddi League or abbreviated to PKL is an Indian men's professional Kabaddi league. It was launched in 2014 and is broadcast on Star Sports. It is the most popular kabaddi league in the world. It is also the second most watched sports league in India after the Indian Premier League (IPL). Puneri Paltan are the current champions of PKL.
Bengal Warriorz (BEN) is a professional kabaddi team based in Kolkata, West Bengal that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. In 2019, they won the trophy for the first time by defeating Dabang Delhi. The team is currently led by Maninder Singh and coached by Prashant surve. The team play their home matches at the Netaji Indoor Stadium.
Jaipur Pink Panthers (JPP) is a professional kabaddi team from Jaipur, competing in the Pro Kabaddi League. The team is currently led by Sunil Kumar Malik and coached by Sanjeev Baliyan. The team is owned by Abhishek Bachchan. Jaipur Pink Panthers play their home matches at Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium. The team is the second most successful team in league history with two titles.
U Mumba is a professional kabaddi team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. The franchise is currently led by Sunil Kumar, and will be coached by Gholamreza Mazandarani, coach of Iran national Kabbadi team. The team is owned by Unilazer Ventures Pvt. Ltd with co - founders in Ronnie Screwvala and Supratik Sen. U Mumba play their home matches at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium, Mumbai.
Patna Pirates (PTP) is a professional kabaddi team based in Patna, Bihar, that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. The team is led by Sachin Tanwar and coached by Narender Redu. Their home ground is the Patliputra Sports Complex. The Pirates are the most successful team in PKL history with a record of winning 3 out of 8 titles and winning all of them in successive. They are also one time runners up in season 8 of pkl which started after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Telugu Titans is a professional kabaddi team based in Hyderabad, Telangana that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. Telugu Titans is a franchise of Veera Sports owned by Srinivas Sreeramaneni of Vaya Group, of NED Group and Mahesh Kolli of Greenko Group. The Titans play their home matches at G. M. C. Balayogi SATS Indoor Stadium when in Hyderabad. The Titans reached the playoffs of Season 2 and 4 in PKL.
Anup Kumar is an Indian former professional Kabaddi player and Kabaddi Coach of PKL Team Puneri Paltan. He was a member of the India national kabaddi team that won Asian gold medals in 2010 and 2014, one South Asian gold medal in 2016 and the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup. He was the captain of the Indian National Kabaddi Team. He spent five years with U Mumba and later moved to Jaipur Pink Panthers. In 2012, the Government of India conferred the Arjuna Award on him for his achievements in the sport. He is employed as a Deputy Commissioner of Police in his native State of Haryana. On 19 December 2018, he announced his retirement from kabbadi.
The 2015 Pro Kabaddi League was the second season of Pro Kabaddi League. The season started on 18 July 2015. 56 games were played amongst 8 teams. First game was played between U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers. The event was broadcast live by Star Sports in India with commentary in 5 different languages - English, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, & Hindi.
2016 Pro Kabaddi League season was the third season of Pro Kabaddi League, a professional kabaddi league played in India since 2014. Pro Kabaddi, which saw astounding success in its second season, was all set to make its much awaited return for a third season from 30 January 2016, just five months after completion of the second season. Hyderabad hosted the opening leg of Season 3, with the first match being played between Telugu Titans and U Mumba at the Titan's home turf, Gachibowli Indoor Stadium.The winner is Patna Pirates.
Surender Nada is an Indian professional Kabaddi player. He was part of the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup winning team. Currently, he plays as a defender for the Bengal warriors franchise of Pro Kabaddi League.
Pardeep Narwal is an Indian international kabaddi player who currently plays for the Bengaluru Bulls in the Pro Kabaddi League and also the Indian national team. Widely regarded as the greatest raider in kabaddi history, he led the Patna Pirates to three straight titles and holds a multitude of the league's raiding records.
Manjeet Chhillar is an Indian former professional kabaddi player who currently serves as the assistant coach of the Telugu Titans. During his professional career, he played for the Indian national team and won a gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games and 2014 Asian Indoor Games in Incheon. He also played for teams in the Pro Kabaddi League including the Bengaluru Bulls, Puneri Paltan, Jaipur Pink Panthers, Tamil Thalaivas, and Dabang Delhi. The Government of India conferred the Arjuna Award on him for his achievements in sports. In an exclusive chat with NNIS Sports, Chhillar termed it a 'dream' to receive the prestigious award. He was also a member of the state team of Haryana and is on top of Pro Kabaddi’s all-time leaderboards for tackle points (391), successful tackles (374) and High 5s (25).
Dharmaraj Cheralathan is an Indian Kabaddi player who currently represents Jaipur Pink Panthers in the VIVO Pro Kabaddi league. He was a member of the Indian Kabaddi team that won gold at the Kabaddi World Cup in 2016. Nicknamed “Anna”, Cheralathan led Patna Pirates to the Pro Kabaddi league in Season 4 and is one of the leading Super Tackle scorers in VIVO Pro Kabaddi history. He is capable of playing as both a right and left corner, Cheralathan has more than two decades of experience. The veteran defender is tactically sound and has consistently combined his experience and intelligence to outwit raiders.
Mohit Chhillar is an Indian kabaddi player who currently plays for Tamil Thalaivas in the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League. He hails from Nizampur, Haryana and has been one of India's best defenders for the past decade. He is a versatile defender who can complement other corner defenders and form successful partnerships. Known for his overpowering holds and swift dashes, Mohit is fifth in the league's all-time High 5s (17) chart and fourth in the Tackle Points (240) and Super Tackles (20) leaderboards.
The 2021–22 Vivo Pro Kabaddi League was the eighth season of Pro Kabaddi League. The season began on 22 December 2021. The usual travelling caravan format was changed to a single venue hosting all the matches of the season due to spread of COVID-19 pandemic in India. Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bangalore was initially announced as the venue, but was later changed to the Sheraton Grand Hotel and Convention Center located in Whitefield, Bangalore.
The 2022 Vivo Pro Kabaddi League was the ninth season of Pro Kabaddi League. The season began on 7 October 2022 and ended on 17 December 2022. Jaipur Pink Panthers defeated Puneri Paltan in the final match to win their second title.
Sunil Kumar is an Indian kabaddi player who plays in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) for the U Mumba franchise as a defender. After winning the Junior Nationals in 2015 and 2016, he was picked up by Patna Pirates for the PKL season 4. He later transferred to Jaipur Pink Panthers. In 2023, Kumar competed for India at the 2022 Asian Games; where the Indian team won gold, controversially defeating Iran 33–29 in the finals.
The 2023–2024 Pro Kabaddi League was the tenth season of the Pro Kabaddi League, a franchise based kabaddi league in India. Jaipur Pink Panthers were the defending champions.
Anup Kumar (169)
