Kabaddi attained National status in the year 1918. Maharashtra was the pioneer state to bring the game to the National platform and give it further popularity. Standard rules and regulations were formulated in 1918 but were brought out in print in the year 1923 and in this very year, an All India Tournament was organized at Baroda with these rules. Kabaddi has not looked back since then and numerous tournaments are organized all over the country throughout the year.
The game got further recognition when the School Games Federation of India included it in the school games in the year 1962. This body has taken up the responsibility of organizing state and national level competitions for school going children all over the country in various sports on a regular basis, every year.
Kabaddi was included in the curriculum of Regular Diploma courses in coaching conducted by the National Institute of Sports, the premier institute to develop sports in the country with effect from the year 1971. There after, qualified coaches in Kabaddi are being produced every ear. The neighboring countries, Nepal & Bangladesh also send I their coaches for the diploma course in various disciplines including Kabaddi, regularly. These qualified coaches are equipped to train players at different levels in a systematic manner with sports science back up.
The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India, the new body, came into existence in the year 1972. This body was formed with a view to popularize the game in the neighboring countries and organize regular National level Men and Women tournaments. After the formation of this body, sub-junior and junior sections were included in Kabaddi national level tournaments, as a regular feature.
In the year 1974, the Indian men’s team toured Bangladesh as part of the cultural exchange program to play five test matches in different parts of the country. The Bangladesh returned the visit in the year 1979 and played five test matches in India. Kabaddi is a synthesis of the game played in various forms under different names. Kabaddi received international exposure during the 1936 Berlin Olympics, demonstrated by Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal, Amaravati, Maharashtra. The game was introduced in the Indian Olympic Games at Calcutta in 1938. In 1950 the All India Kabaddi Federation came into existence and compiled standard rules. After formation of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India, the first men’s nationals were held in Madras (renamed Chennai), while the women’s were in Calcutta (renamed Kolkata) in 1955.The AKFI has given new shape to the rules and has the right to modify them. The Asian Kabaddi Federation (AKF) was founded under the chairmanship of Mr. Janardan Singh Gehlot.
Kabaddi was introduced and popularised in Japan in 1979. The Asian Amateur Kabaddi Federation sent Professor Sundar Ram of India to tour Japan for two months to introduce the game.
In 1979, a return test between Bangladesh and India was held at different places of India including Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Punjab. The Asian Kabaddi Championship was arranged in 1980 and India emerged as champion and Bangladesh runner-up. Bangladesh became runner-up again in 1985 in the Asian Kabaddi Championship held in Jaipur, India. The other teams in the tournament were Nepal, Malaysia and Japan. The game was included for the first time in the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990. India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh took part. India won the gold medal and has also won gold at the following six Asian Games in Hiroshima in 1994, Bangkok in 1998, Busan in 2002, Doha in 2006 and Guangzhou in 2010.
An attempt to popularise kabaddi in Great Britain was carried out by Channel 4, who commissioned a programme dedicated to the sport. The programme, Kabaddi in the early 1990s, however, failed to capture viewer attention despite fixtures such as West Bengal Police versus the Punjab. Kabaddi was axed in 1992, but not before its presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy suffered a collapsed lung while participating in the sport. Alt-rock band The Cooper Temple Clause formed a kabbadi team in 2001 and were, at one stage, ranked seventh in the British domestic standings.
In the 1998 Asian games held at Bangkok (Thailand), the Indian Kabaddi team clinched the gold medal. The chief coach of the team was former kabaddi player and coach Flt. Lt. S P Singh.
