Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Vijay Goel here hosted Kabaddi Team which recently lifted the Kabaddi World Cup 2016. The team led by Anup Kumar along with the coaching staff consisting of Balwan Singh and Bhaskaran Edachery called on the minister at his residence.
During the felicitation speech, the Minister announced that the players and coaching staff will be individually honoured and presented with the amount of Rs. 10 Lakh each. He said, India will make all efforts to include Kabaddi in the Olympic Games. Referring to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision to promote indigenous games, the minister said these players should be looked to up as role models for the youth in India. He said, the entire nation is very proud of them for the glory they have brought to the country. Shri Vijay Goel said, it gives us immense pleasure to see that Indian sportspersons are performing very well in the global arena.
The 2016 Kabaddi World Cup hosted in Ahmedabad was two weeks of thrills, excitement and reached out to a global audience. This was the first instance that the Kabaddi World Cup received representation from all Olympic geographies with teams from USA, England, Australia, Iran, Poland, Thailand, Bangladesh, Republic of Korea, Japan, Argentina and Kenya. India tagged as favorites went on to lift the trophy in a fiercely contested final match against a resolute Iran side 38-29. The winner was awarded the Trophy by the Union Sports Minister Shri Vijay Goel, who witnessed the final match at Ahmedabad.