The 21st Century
has augured well for the indigenous game of India and
the popular South Asian Game-Kabaddi. Ever since Kabaddi
was established as a priority sports discipline in the
XI Beijing Asian Games in 1990, there has been a steady
improvement in the progress of this indigenous sport at
the International level.
The inclusion
of Kabaddi as a priority discipline for the first time
in the 2nd Asian Indoor Games at Macau (SAR-China) became
a landmark in the history of Kabaddi. This gave a golden
opportunity to show case Kabaddi to the South East Asian
countries and will remain as an epoch making event in
the sports history of Asia, especially South East Asia.
It is noteworthy
that it was China where Kabaddi was first included as
a discipline in the 1990 Beijing Asian Games and 16 years
later, China gave another opportunity to Kabaddi to make
its debut in the Asian Indoor Games. This is a major step¬ping
stone in the history of Kabaddi.
Efforts to get
Kabaddi included in the Asian Beach Games held in Indonesia
in 2008 proved successful, giving a further fillip to
the game.
This becomes imperative
on my part to express deep gratitude and sincere thanks
to Mr. Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, President, Olympic
Council of Asia, for his continuous support to this wonderful
game of Kabaddi on behalf of the Kabaddi World.
Mr. Randhir Singh
Secretary General of Olympic Council of Asia and Secretary
General of Indian Olympic Association also contributed
to the development of the Kabaddi and he always made himself
present on the ground to boost the morale of the players.
The contribution
of Mr. Husain-Al-Musallam, Director General of Olympic
Council of Asia is being hailed by everyone.
The rise of Kabaddi
was not possible without the support which was being extended
by Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, President of the Indian Olympic
Association.
As the time is
changing fast and the need for website was being felt
for quite some time, AKFI prepared for the same and this
will be our endeavor to share the entire knowledge and
data base of Indian Kabaddi with rest of the world.
Development is
a never ending process and we will appreciate the suggestions
to improve upon not only on the website but on the game
too.
