Daily Times

LAHORE: Gujrat Warriors defeated Faisalabad Sherdils in the final to be crowned champions of Pakistan’s inaugural Super Kabaddi League which concluded here on Thursday. Gujrat Warriors, who qualified for the final after beating Kashmir Jaanbaaz in the semifinal Wednesday night, outclassed Faisalabad Sherdils by 38-26 to win the tournament. Faisalabad Sherdils had defeated Sahiwal Bulls by 33-24 to secure their berth in the final. The tournament, hosted by Strawberry Sports Management, was played between 10 franchise-based teams which represented different cities of the country. The teams were picked through a draft and were divided into two pools. Pool A consisted of Gujrat Warriors, Gwadar Bahadars, Lahore Thunders, Sahiwal Bulls and Karachi Zorawars. Pool B was made up of Islamabad All-Stars, Faisalabad Sherdils, Peshawar Haiders, Multan Sikandars and Kashmir Jaanbaaz. The league had kicked off in Lahore on May 2 amid a star-studded affair that saw performances from famous singers and actors including Reema Khan and Sara Raza Khan. Revolving around very basic skills, the game of kabaddi is played by two teams of seven, in which a ‘raider’ enters the other half of the court to tag or wrestle opponents before returning ‘home’ while holding his breath and chanting ‘kabaddi, kabaddi’.

Published in Daily Times, May 11^th 2018.