2nd World Cup Kabaddi in New Panvel from Januray 24 to 26

Mumbai, Jan 12 (UNI) The country's indigenous game of Kabaddi, which had gone global with the launching of the first World Cup Kabaddi Tournament 2004, will soon have its second edition at Karnala Sports Academy Panvel from January 24 to 26.

The last edition was contested by a dozen teams and this time the championship would see sixteen nations vying for the title with hosts and defending champions India being considered the favourites, Vivek Patil, President Karnala Sports Academy and Convenor of the organising committee of the event told mediapersons here today.

Jaya Shetty, International Kabaddi Federation CEO was also present during the conference. The entire event will have a budget of Rs two crore.

India have so far been at the top in this sport by virtue of their winning five gold medals in consecutive Asian games since 1990. Their supremacy will be challenged by next door neighbours Pakistan and to some extent Japan and Iran. Pakistan, though a known power in Kabaddi, are set to make their debut on the world stage.

The tournament has a total prize money of around seven lakh rupees with the winners taking a purse of 2.5 lakh rupees. The runners up will be richer by 1.5 lakhs while the losing semi-finalists will take home fifty thousand rupees each. There is an award of Rs fifty thousand for the 'Player of the Tournament' in addition to rupees five thousand each to the best player in each match. The championship will be played on a league-cum-knockout basis with teams being divided into four groups, he added.

Canada and Germany, who had contested last time, are listed as standbyes for this edition. Italy have shown interest in kabaddi and have decided to send a team to the championship. The tournament will be hosted by the Karnala Sports Academy of which Patil is the President.

The Indian Olympic Association has given the green signal for this championships to the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India and secretary general Raja Randhir Singh has pledged full support for this event and also promised to be present on one of the days, Patil added.

Most of the teams are expected to be accompanied by high ranking officials from their respective national federations, thus providing a good opportunity for Indian officils to chart the future course of development of the game which going by the current trend should reach the Olympic games by the year 2016.

LIST OF TEAMS : India, Iran, Bangladesh, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Afghanistan, Malaysia , Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, United Kingdom, Ausatralia, West Indies, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

UNI