It’s All About Kabaddi……Kabaddi at Panambur Beach
It’s all about Kabaddi..Kabaddi..Kabaddi for the next three days at Panambur Beach as “All India Invitation Beach Mat Kabaddi Tournament for Men-April 2016 kicked off on Friday, 15 April 2016.
Mangaluru: All roads led to Panambur Beach for one of the Biggest and First National Level Pro-Kabaddi Tournament ever to take place in Mangaluru. Kudos to the brain-child behind this great tournament, Rakesh Malli, the Chairman of Karnataka Rajya Amateur Kabaddi Association for his initiative in making this event happen. Thousands of spectators filled the gallery set up on the beachfront to watch the teams fight for supremacy. With the cool breeze blowing from the sea it was one great evening to watch a flood-lit sporting event played on a beach.
The “All India Invitation Beach Mat Kabaddi Tournament for Men-April 2016|”, under the authority of Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India and Karnataka Rajya Amateur Kabaddi Association, organized by DK District Amateur Kabaddi Association (R)-Mangaluru and Jaya Karnataka Dakshina Kannada District was inaugurated on Friday, 15 April 2016 by lighting the lamp and releasing the balloons into the air by Oscar Fernandes-General Secretary, AICC, New Delhi, along with state minister Abhaya Chandra Jain; ; DC AB Ibrahim; Karkala MLA Sunil Kumar; MLA Moideen Bava; MLC Ivan D’Souza; MCC Mayor Harinath, Dr Mohan Alva-Chairman, Alva’s Education Foundation, Athlete Vandana Shanbough, Rakesh Malli and many other VIPs.
Inaugurating the event, Oscar Fernandes said, ” Mangaluru has added yet another feather in its cap for organizing the first ever National Level Pro-Kabaddi tournament. | feel extremely proud to be associated with the organizers in hosting this prestigious sporting event for the first time here. I have done my best during my tenure in supporting various sports to take place in Mangaluru. We should be glad to have an energetic and enthusiastic Abhaya Chandra Jain, as sports minister who is very dedicated and shows a keen interest in the development of sporting activities in the state and district. I wish this event all success”
Abhaya Chandra Jain and Ivan D’Souza also speaking during the occasion complimented Rakesh Malli and his team for organizing this prestigious Kabaddi tournament for the first time in Mangaluru, and raising the name of Mangaluru high in the field of Kabaddi. Other dignitaries on the dais also spoke and complimented the organizers for their efforts in hosting this event, and wished them best of luck.
This event has been launched at expenses of nearly Rs 50 lakh, and many popular pro-Kabaddi champs from all over India have already arrived to participate and grace this event, among whom are Rishank Devadiga, Sandeep Narwal and Manpreet Singh from the popular Pro Kabaddi League. These three are among 60 national kabaddi players who will take part during the three-day pro-kabaddi matches. Nearly 24 teams from different parts of the country are participating in the event, namely ONGC Delhi, Air India Mumbai, Central Railways, Dena Bank, Maharashtra State Police, MEG – Bangalore; Dena Boys – Mumbai; HAL – Bangalore; Nagpur District; Udupi District; Bhatkal; BMTC – Bangalore; and High Tech from Chennai. Local teams such as Alva’s College, Varun Travels and Sporting Ullal are also participating.
The matches, each 45 minutes long, will be played out on two mats provided by the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports. The matches will be played between 4:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. The winning team will be given a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh while the runner-up will get Rs 1.5 lakh. The two teams that lose the semi-finals will get Rs 75,000 each. All arrangements according to the norms and regulations of the Kabaddi Board have been followed, and the matches will be under proper supervision. A new pavilion is being laid to accommodate around 20,000 spectators. In between breaks, musical performance by Naushad and group entertained the spectators.
Tomorrow, Saturday, 16 April, state minister UT Khader; Hanumanth Gowda- president, Karnataka Rajya Amateur Kabaddi Assn. Bengaluru; MLC Ganesh Karnik; Bethangady MLA Vasanth Bangera; Puttur MLA Shakuntala Shetty; Srikanth- Secretary, Karnataka Rajya Amateur Kabaddi Assn., Bengaluru; Divya Prabha Gowda- Chairperson, Karnataka State Social Welfare Board; Sadananda Shetty-Chairman, Sri Devi Education Trust; Ravishankar Shetty-Bengaluru; Suresh Chandra Shetty-VP, All India HMS; and Suresh Shetty Gurme, a businessman from Padubidri will grace the event.
For the valedictory function on Sunday, 17 April-State ministers Vinaya Kumar Sorake and Dr G Parameshwara; NM Adyanthaya- Ex-All India VP of INTUC; Sanjeeva Reddy-President, All India INTUC; MLA JR Lobo; Sullia MLA Angara; Ex-minister Krishna J Palemar; Manjunath Bhandary-Chairman, Sahyadri Institutions; HN Deepak-state president, Jaya Karnataka; Rajendra Kumar-Chairman, SCDCC Bank, and MCCCorporator-Raghuveer will grace the occasion.
Did joker Pinto watch this event with a nice ‘bargaar’ and ‘soce’? May be, some sugarcane juice too?? LOL
On a different note, it’s very interesting to see these politicians, all from Congress, showing up for this event with a big smile!!! I’ve never seen them even once in one of those ‘swachcha mangalooru’ program!!!