The fourth edition of the Bangabandhu Cup International Kabaddi Tournament kicked off in Dhaka on Sunday with a grand opening ceremony. Youth and Sports Minister Nazmul Hasan Papon was the chief guest at the event, which was held at the Shaheed Suhrawardy National Indoor Stadium in Mirpur.
Papon expressed his delight at the grand opening ceremony of the Bangabandhu Cup International Kabaddi tournament. He stressed the importance of promoting kabaddi at the school level to develop the sport.
In his speech, the Sports Minister said, "Organising any major international tournament is a very challenging task. It is commendable that the Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation has been organizing the Bangabandhu Cup International Kabaddi Tournament for four consecutive years. I extend my heartfelt greetings to the President and General Secretary of the Federation, along with everyone involved. It is not easy to have 12 teams participating this time, instead of one or two."
He further said, "I will extend all kinds of cooperation to the Kabaddi Federation from my ministry in the way they are running the game. We have made a short list, and kabaddi is on that list. I am talking about the Federation. On the other hand, it is our national game. We must do well in this game. If we want to start kabaddi from the grassroots level, we must start from educational institutions first. It will be a good step for new players to emerge."
Kabaddi is the national sport of Bangladesh. The Red-Greens have a history of winning many medals in international competitions. However, the Sports Minister is not only looking at the Asian level; he is also eyeing the World Cup. In this regard, he said, "Our target is the World Cup. If we can manage kabaddi properly, since it is our national game, and if we can move forward with proper planning, Bangladesh will definitely do well internationally in kabaddi."
A total of 12 teams from three continents - Europe, Africa, and Asia - are participating in the tournament this year. The tournament will conclude on June 3 with the final match. Poland, Kenya, Uganda, Japan, South Korea, Iraq, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh are participating. Among them, South Korea, Japan, and Thailand have played in the semifinals of the last two World Cups. However, Japan, South Korea, and Uganda are participating in the tournament for the first time.
Papon has spoken of working in collaboration with the Ministry of Education to spread kabaddi across the country. He also mentioned plans to take the game to the grassroots level and develop players. In this regard, Nazmul Hasan further said, "I am not thinking about clubs. I want to go even lower. I want players to emerge from the school level. If we can organize kabaddi competitions in schools, colleges, and universities every year, we will get many more players. Our first task is to spread kabaddi across the country."
