KASARGOD: The Kerala State Sports Council’s K Ganesh will be the head coach of Poland’s kabaddi team.
Ganesh, a native of Mogral Puttur in Kasargod, was picked by the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF), the governing body of the sport, to train the Polish team for the World Cup to be held in Ahmedabad from October 7 to 27. The sport is increasingly becoming popular in Poland.
“I will be leaving for Warsaw before September 10, and will hold preparatory camps for the team before returning to India in the last week of September,” he said. Apart from hosts India, the others teams competing for the 8th World Cup are Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, England, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Sri Lanka, and the United States. India had won all the seven previous edition of the World Cup. Before the World Cup, a few friendlies would be organised to acclimatise the team, said Ganesh, who is now the kabaddi coach of Kerala State Sports Council’s centralised sports hostel in Kasargod. Poland and Kenya are participating in the tournament for the first time.
The country’s Michal Spiczko played for Bengaluru Bulls in the last season’s Pro Kabaddi, said Ganesh, who has a diploma in coaching from National Institute of Sports, Ahmedabad.
He had represented Kasargod district, and was with the Indian Air Force from 1983 to 2003.
He wore the jersey of Services in several national tournaments, and was the coach for the Air Force team and Kannur University.
“The IKF is taking initiative to popularise the kabaddi across the world and include the sport in the 2020 Olympics. My appointment as the head coach of Poland is part of the effort,” he said.