CHENNAI:Tamil Thalaivas CEO Viren D’Silva along with renowned Tamil actors Vishnu Vishal and Andrea Jeremiah recently launched a Corporate Kabaddi Fest and Children’s Kabaddi Challenge at Taj Club House. The Thalaivas, who were debutants in the Pro-Kabaddi League last season decided to take the sport beyond the season and extend the year-round kabaddi calender with this new initiative. They came up with a new expression Idhu namma aatam, which means ‘this is our sport’ and promoted the same in the state.
Corporate Kabaddi Fest is a tournament for 32 corporate companies, starting from August 17. For the first time, kabaddi will be played at Express Avenue mall, where shoppers can also watch the game. The 32 companies including TCS, IBM, Renault, Cognizant, and Apollo Tyres will encourage field amateur corporate players to give kabaddi enthusiasts a thrilling experience.
Viren was optimistic about the vision they have for the tournament. He said, “We want to promote the game by encouraging new talents in various fields. Most of the employees needed a break from professional life.So, we decided to start with the corporates.”
He also promised to reach out to nearly 1 lakh school students across eight cities — Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem, Thiruvallur, Thanjavir, Tirunelveli and Puducherry under the initiative called ‘Children Kabaddi Challenge’. Talking about tournament for students, he said that the students of 196 schools are already on board with students playing in a knock-out format. After monitoring them closely, 30 teams will make it to the final event which will be held in September.
Vishnu, who is acting in a kabbadi-based movie said, “I am very happy to be a part of the kabaddi talent hunt as I have also made my debut in a movie that is based on kabaddi. So, I know how strong the players need to be and this game gives great relaxation as well.”
Corporate kabaddi
Corporate Kabaddi Fest is a tournament for 32 corporate companies. The event will be held at Express Avenue Mall on August 17. The companies are TCS, IBM, Cognizant, and many more