Kabaddi (particularly circle kabaddi) [1] is a sport mainly played by the South Asian community in Canada. A number of club competitions take place in Canada, [2] some of which attract players from countries such as India. [3]
Kabaddi (particularly circle kabaddi) [1] is a sport mainly played by the South Asian community in Canada. A number of club competitions take place in Canada, [2] some of which attract players from countries such as India. [3]
Kabaddi is noted for being particularly popular amongst the Punjabi community in Canada. [4] It has become a popular high school sport in some parts of Surrey. [5] [6] [7] Millions of dollars have been invested into kabaddi stadiums in Brampton and Surrey. [8] [9] [10]
Kabaddi tournaments receive support from local businesses, [11] as well as politicians who use them to obtain Punjabi votes. [4] The tournaments have also been used to incentivize South Asians to avoid gang involvement. [12] [13] [14]
Kabaddi has been alleged to have ties to gangsterism; for example, the National Kabaddi Association President, Kamaljit Singh 'Neetu' Kang, was targeted in a drive-by shooting in 2023. [1] Other allegations include links to people-smuggling and drug abuse; of the 261 Indian kabaddi players who entered Canada between 2014 and 2017, only about half returned to India. [4] [15]
Canadians involved in kabaddi have also been alleged to have been involved in drug-related crimes in India. [16]
Kabaddi is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players, originating in ancient India. The objective of the game is for a single player on offense, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their players as possible, and return to their own half of the court, all without being tackled by the defenders in 30 seconds. Points are scored for each player tagged by the raider, while the opposing team earns a point for stopping the raider. Players are taken out of the game if they are touched or tackled, but return to the game after each point scored by their team from a tag or tackle.
Hinduism is the third-largest religion in Canada, with approximately 2.3% of the nation's total population identifying as Hindu in the 2021 census. As of 2021, there are over 828,000 Canadians of the Hindu faith.
Pearls Kabaddi World Cup 2011 was the second edition of the circle style Kabaddi World Cup played in Punjab, India and overall fourth Kabaddi World Cup. It was played in various cities of the province from 1 to 20 November 2011 with teams from 14 countries.
Kabaddi, is a contact sport, native to the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the most popular sports in India, played mainly among village people. India has taken part in four Asian Games in kabaddi, and won gold in all.
2012 Kabaddi World Cup was the third edition of the circle style Kabaddi World Cup, organised by the Government of Punjab. It was played in Punjab, India in various cities of the province from 1 to 15 December 2012 with teams from 16 countries. The opening ceremony of the tournament was held in Bathinda and the closing ceremony in Ludhiana.
The South Asian diaspora, also known as the Desi diaspora, is the group of people whose ancestral origins lie in South Asia, but who live outside the region. There are over 44 million people in this diaspora.
Hardeep Tauo Toganwalia is a professional kabaddi player. He plays as a stopper in circle style kabaddi. He is 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) tall and weighs 108 kg (238 lb). He is known for his unique playing style, and affectionately known by the name "Tauo". Tauo stands for Father's elder brother in Haryanvi. Opponents gave him the nickname and he has it tattooed on the knuckles of his left fist.
The 2013 World Kabaddi Cup was the fourth edition of the circle style World Kabaddi Cup, held from 1 to 14 December 2013 with the Opening Ceremony on 30 November 2013 at Bathinda. The tournament took place in Punjab, India.
Indo-Canadian organized crime is made up predominantly of young adults and teenagers of Indian ethnic, cultural and linguistic background. Collectively, these groups are among the top 5 major homegrown organized crime hierarchy across the nation in Canada coming in 3rd place, after the Asian Triads and White biker gangs. The 2004 RCMP British Columbia Annual Police Report ranked them third in terms of organization and sophistication in British Columbia, ranked behind outlaw motorcycle clubs and aforementioned Chinese criminal organizations such as the Triads drug clans.
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.
South Asian Canadians in Metro Vancouver are the third-largest pan-ethnic group in the region, comprising 369,295 persons or 14.2 percent of the total population as of 2021. Sizable communities exist within the city of Vancouver along with the adjoining city of Surrey, which houses one of the world's largest South Asian enclaves.
The 2014 World Kabaddi Cup was the fifth edition of the circle style World Kabaddi Cup, held from 7 December to 20 December 2014 with the opening ceremony on 6 December 2014 at the Guru Gobind Singh Stadium in Jalandhar. The tournament took place in Punjab, India.
Punjabi kabaddi, also called circle style kabaddi, is a contact sport that originated in the Punjab region, in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. There are a number of traditional Punjabi kabaddi styles traditionally played in the Punjab region. Similar to standard kabaddi, circle style kabaddi is also played at state and international levels. Starting in 2010, the Punjab government has periodically administered an international tournament called the Kabaddi World Cup, which has always been won by the India national team, except the 2020 tournament, which was played in Pakistan and won by Pakistan.
Tamil Thalaivas is an Indian professional kabaddi franchise based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The team competes in the Pro Kabaddi League and was added as one of the four additional franchises when the league was expanded in 2017. The team plays its home matches at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai and is owned by Magnum Sports.
The Global T20 Canada is a professional Twenty20 cricket tournament that is played in Canada. The first edition of the tournament took place during June and July 2018 with six teams competing. Each team featured four local Canadian cricketers in each squad, along with international players. The inaugural tournament in 2018 took place at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club in King City, Ontario, while the 2019, 2023 & 2024 tournaments took place at the Brampton Sports Park in proximity to the CAA Centre in Brampton, Ontario. Bombay Sports Limited are the owners of the league, and also the organizers of the Euro T20 Slam that was set to begin on 30 August 2019.
Sports retain a very valuable position in the culture of Gujarat. Some of the popular sports played in Gujarat are cricket, kho-kho, badminton, football, kabaddi and table tennis. The Sports Authority of Gujarat presides and supervises the sporting activities under the Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Department. There have been many successful and popular initiatives undertaken by the authority to encourage the sports culture in Gujarat, Khel Mahakumbh' being an example. Gujarat has various levels of sports competitions including events of both larger and smaller levels.
Deep Jandu is a Canadian music producer, recording artist, composer and songwriter associated with Punjabi music. He is founder and CEO of record label Royal Music Gang. Jandu released his debut album Nach in 2011. His song "Daru Daru" was well received by the audience. He was also nominated for Filmfare Awards Punjabi Best Music Album category for Channa Mereya (2017), along Gold Boy, Jaidev Kumar, and Sonu Ramgarhia.
India has several traditional games and sports, some of which have been played for thousands of years. Their popularity has greatly declined in the modern era, with Western sports having overtaken them during the British Raj, and the Indian government now making some efforts to revive them. Many of these games do not require much equipment or playing space. Some of them are only played in certain regions of India, or may be known by different names and played under different rules and regulations in different regions of the country. Many Indian games are also similar to other traditional South Asian games.
Sikh Heritage Month is an annually observed commemorative month in Canada. It is the celebration of Sikh arts, culture and heritage of the Canadian Sikh community. Sikh Heritage Month is celebrated in April in Canada, where it has received official recognition from the Government of Canada.