NAGOYA: Japanese manga is embedded in their culture. It has an extraordinary space in the daily life of people here irrespective of age, gender and colour. One such 'manga' is slowly trying to change their perception of the game — kabaddi. The manga series has inspired a generation of kabaddi players in the country as well. The stadium had a mix of people — Japanese outnumbered all.
"I read about kabaddi in manga," said one young Japanese fan, who had come here to watch India play the final against Iran. He read a popular manga series that ran for almost 10 years – Burning Kabaddi (Shakunetsu Kabaddi) and that brought him here at the Tokai City Gymnasium Hall on a rainy Saturday. And needless to say, he was supporting India — the team that seems invincible right now. There were times when Iran threatened India's citadel but that was a brief interlude. India raided and scored points with consummate ease thereafter.
The young Japanese fan was not alone. It was 'burning kabaddi' inside the hall. The entire stadium was rooting for India from start to finish. The game see-sawed in the first half and that was it. It needed that push for the players to break their slumber. Technically and tactically, India were superior.
Aslam did not need to read Burning Kabaddi to get inspired. His story is quite inspiring like many Indian sportspersons. Coming from a very poor family, he even washed utensils in restaurants to keep the stomach happy.
Each player has his own story. But Aslam's tale is the most touching.
There's a lot of teasing, intimidating and exchange of words between the players.
Just before the timer ended, captain Sunil Kumar stood there asking the Iranian team to keep their mouth shut. Indian kabaddi players are obsessed with wins that mere utterance of defeat turns into abuse. "I just wanted to tell them we are India and we don't lose against you in kabaddi," he said. The Iranians had gone to Pakistan to play kabaddi matches before the Asian Games as part of their preparation. Iran told the media that they would win gold this time. Well, they did in 2018 but that was the only time they won in the final. India have managed to win all other times including on Saturday.
Kabaddi on the mat is quite exciting. Apart from raids and holds, the game is played with aggressive hand gestures, wild words. On the day, India were stunned when they went behind. Then they picked up and never left the tempo.
Bengaluru (BC) Ramesh is one of the coaches. It will be criminal to mention which city he belongs to. He said that India has always won gold in this event barring once. “In 1990 we won one gold and that was kabaddi,” he said. "In 1990, we won one gold and that was kabaddi," he said. "We can never lose the kabaddi medal." Such is the belief that Sunil also echoed from the same hymn sheet.
"This is India's team, we cannot lose kabaddi gold," he said after an extended celebration after the medal ceremony. Sunil also explained why he mouthed the Iranians after winning the final. "They went to Pakistan for warm-up matches and there they said that they could win gold this time," he said. That, of course, did not materialise. India are champions and will remain one.