English team enjoys Indian hospitality

LUDHIANA: The England Women's Kabaddi team may not have played a match until Wednesday, but they are already excited with the hospitality they have received so far in the city and around. Participating in the Kabaddi World Cup for the second time, the girls train every day to better their last year's performance by clinching the World Cup. England women reached the final last year, but lost to India.
Taking out from their stern training sessions, the team visited Chandigarh on Tuesday and a school and a gurdwara in a Ludhiana village a day before. The welcoming Indians every where have left them overwhelmed.
"Our time here has been amazing. We went to a school a couple of days ago and the children gave us an overwhelming reception. They wanted to click photographs with us and took our photographs and we tied friendship bands to them brought from England," said English captain Rosie Haigh. "This culture is a serene experience and we are all trying to embrace it," said Haigh, an electronic technician with the Brit army who also visited the Alamgir Gurdwara along with her team.
Talking about food, Ashley Hunter, a farmer and a rugby player, now playing kabaddi, said she can't handle the Indian spices. "A few others in my team like eating Indian food, but I just can't take the spices, even when I like something. Some of the girls are planning a visit to the Taj Mahal after the tournament," she added. Hunter has been playing kabaddi for the past six months and is participating in her first world cup.
At Chandigarh, the English girls visited the secretariat, Sukhna Lake and the Rock Garden. "We checked out a local market in the city on Wednesday. We enjoyed this hospitality even during the last World Cup and are enjoying it much more on our second visit as we are quite familiar with the ways of the Indian people now," said vice-captain Chanel. A physical trainer in the Army, Chanel added their team is much more confident than last year and will try their best to win.
"The weather is great here and has kept our morale high. In England, it is freezing at this time. While we wait for our match scheduled on Saturday, we have been enjoying our training sessions," said Barney, another army personnel in the team.
The team is also planning a visit to the Golden Temple to celebrate the birthday of one of their team mates, on Thursday.