Malacca eyes kabaddi medal

Courtesy of The Star

MALACCA: Positive results from numerous friendly matches and the recent President’s Cup National Kabaddi Championships in Negri Sembilan have made Malacca confident of picking up at least a bronze medal at the Sukma in June.

The ancient indigenous Indian sport of kabaddi, which was only played along formalised lines all over the sub-continent and parts of south Asia since the early 1930s, is set to make its debut at the games in Malacca.

Kabaddi Association of Malacca president M. Tirunavokarasan said the state squad of 15 players had been in centralised training since late last year for the upcoming biennial national games.

With limited training period and its first major exposure at a national meet, Malacca performed credibly at the President’s Cup championships to make it into the semi-finals and subsequently collecting the bronze medal. On its way to third placing, Malacca beat Johor 67-41 and Penang 66-25 but lost to Perak 37-69 in the preliminary round matches.

Malacca bowed out to the more experienced Kedah in the last four and clinched the bronze based on better points average over Selangor. Hosts Negri beat Perak 67-23 to win the men’s honours while Selangor defeated Kedah 18-9 in the women’s final.