TIRUPATI: The five-day National Kabaddi Championship tournament being organised by the Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) began on a grand note here at Indira Maidan on Wednesday evening. Both men and women Kabaddi teams of AP contingent started the tournament on a winning note. The men’s team won the inaugural match against Bihar with a 33 point lead while the women’s team registered a clinical victory against Bihar with a 21 point lead.
Suman from Chittoor and Sandhya of Srikakulam were adjudged as the player of the matches in the men’s and women’s Kabaddi teams respectively. Earlier, Arjuna awardee and former Indian Kabaddi team captain Honnappa Gowda and badminton player Pullela Gopichand along with Deputy CM K Narayana Swamy, MP M Gurumoorthy, MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy, Collector M Hari Narayanan, MCT chief PS Girisha and other dignitaries kick-started the tournament.
Amid the cultural performances by school students and march past by men and women teams, Pullela Gopichand lit the lamp inaugurating the tournament and Hoppanna Gowda hoisted the event flag.As many as 42 teams have been categorised as A, B, C and D. On the first day, eight league matches under men’s and six matches under women’s Kabaddi were played.
‘Encourage kids to take up sports’
Pullela Gopichand appealed to the parents to encourage their wards to dedicate more time to physical activities instead of spending it on smartphones