Kabaddi champs hold their breath for KL 2027 Games

On a high: The national kabaddi men and women teams celebrating their victories. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star

BANGKOK: The national men’s kabaddi team captured a historic gold in the SEA Games - and now, they have to hold their breath and wait.

They can only hope that the sport will be in the Kuala Lumpur Games in 2027.

In the sport that is being held for the first time in the Games, the team fought bravely to beat hosts Thailand 28-16 in the three-stars event final.

The women’s team also came close to the gold before settling for silver after narrowly going down 22-23 to Indonesia at the Rajamangala University of Technology in Bangkok yesterday.

Malaysia also bagged bronze medals in both the men’s and women’s standard style and super five events.

But it wasn’t the celebration, it was the hope.

Team manager B. Arul Prakash feels that team have made a case to have the sport included in the next Games.

For now, kabaddi has not been included in the list of sports being contested.

“I am very happy because we exceeded our target. Earlier, we targeted four medals but we got six,” said Arul Prakash.

“This is an extraordinary achievement considering that this is the first time the players are competing in the SEA Games.

“I want to thank everyone who supports kabaddi for this journey. So far, the sport has not been included in the next Games but this is a good chance for us to promote the sport.”

Veteran player R. Dhaanushruban was also overjoyed.

“Winning this gold is a very proud moment for us.

“For years, we have hoped to win an international title,” he said.

“We trained hard for six months and sacrificed a lot to reach this moment.

“With this gold, we believe that this sport will get more support and grow in the country,” added the 25-year-old.

Finals

Three stars

Men’s team: Malaysia bt Thailand 28-16.

Women’s team: Indonesia bt Malaysia 23-22.