AHMEDABAD: The third edition of the
Kabaddi World Cup
gets underway at The Arena here today and, quite expectedly, all eyes will be on two-time defending champions India. Apart from the hosts, 11 other teams including two-time finalists Iran, twice third-place finishers Bangladesh, Japan,
South Korea
, Thailand, England, Kenya, Poland, USA, Argentina and Australia will be vying for the glittering trophy , which was displayed at a city hotel on Thursday.
The international format of the World Cup was introduced in Mumbai in 2004 and India, from where the sport is believed to have originated, had crushed Iran 55-27 in the final. The script was repeated in the second edition of the tournament in 2007 where India successfully defended its title beating Iran 29-19. The tournament will be played using the format of the Pro-Kabaddi League this time.
Indian skipper
Anup Kumar is confident that the trophy will remain in India's custody again. “It's a big tournament and all teams are very good. Some, however, are new and playing against them will provide a new experience. I believe there will be a bit of a pressure on everyone. Our only target is to keep the trophy in the country,“ he said.
Taking stock of the teams in the fray, India, Iran, Bangladesh and South Korea look strong contenders to make it at least to the semifinals. Apart from the 'bigfour', Japan, Thailand and England have featured in previous two WCs and will be hoping to cause upsets. The first-timers in the tournament are Kenya, Poland, USA, Argentina and Australia, and how they fare will depend on how much stomach they show for a fight against the established teams.
Australian skipper
Campbell Brown
insisted that his team would dish out an aggressive brand of kabaddi, just like how they play their cricket and rugby. While the previous two editions of the WC went unnoticed, things have undergone a drastic change over the past couple of years, and lakhs of viewers are expected to witness some scintillating action on TV. The tournament will be broadcast in about 120 countries in four different languages.