On the occasion of World Kabaddi Day today, India has made a new Guinness World Record with a participation of 128 players. The Guinness World Record attempt was for ‘Most players in a Kabaddi exhibition match’.
The attempt begins at Tau Devi Lal Stadium at 11 am in the presence of adjudicators from the Guinness team, and after three hours of continuous play, the record was finally broken at 2 pm with a participation of 128 players as declared by the Guinness adjudicator, Swapnil Dangarikar. The Guinness World Record attempt was for ‘Most players in a Kabaddi exhibition match. While Guinness had set the record benchmark for 84 players to break the record, the organizers had challenged an attempt for 154 players.
Haryana Governor, Bandaru Dattatreya was the Chief Guest and the Guinness World record certificate was presented to him by the Guinness team. The Governor then handed over the coveted certificate to the President of Holistic International Pravasi Sports Association (HIPSA), Kanthi D Suresh, and the President of World Kabaddi, Sh Ashok Das. Dattatreya in his speech was appreciative of the efforts of Kanthi D Suresh, President HIPSA, who played a crucial role in the vision of the event. He spoke about the importance of Kabaddi as a sport for India and a desire to make it an Olympic Sport.
A charged-up venue at the Tau Devilal Stadium saw Team Arjuna and Team Abhimanyu jointly break this World Record. The technical rules for the Guinness Record attempt have been designed together by the Guinness team and members of World Kabaddi. Most of the rules are the standardized rules followed World over except for rules regarding the time length of the match and number of substitutions allowed in a standard match. Qualified witnesses and referees are some of the mandatory requirements laid down by the Guinness World Records team.
The World Kabaddi has been celebrated every year on March 24, from the year 2019. This year the World Kabaddi Day was celebrated in India and the venue chosen for the same was Tau Devi Lal Indoor Stadium, Panchkula. HIPSA along with World Kabaddi, jointly organized this years event. To promote Kabaddi, globally, was one of the main reasons to choose India as a venue and Haryana in particular, for the event. Foreign delegates from different member countries of World Kabaddi made their presence at the event, who were honoured to be felicitated by the Governor. Dr D Suresh, Principal Secretary, Haryana Human Resources Department and Resident Commissioner Haryana Bhawan, New Delhi was also present at the event.
Kanthi, President HIPSA, later spoke to the media and said that it was a proud moment for all and with India keen to host the Olympics in 2036, this Guinness Record is an initiative to get the sport of Kabaddi on the World map. Breaking a Guinness World Record requires dedication, preparation, and perseverance. The Guinness World Record ‘Officially Amazing’ certificate for the most players in a Kabaddi exhibition match was presented to HIPSA and World Kabaddi, at Panchkula, she added.
Secretary World Kabaddi S.T Arsu, Deputy Commissioner Sushil Sarwan, Deputy Commissioner of Police Himadri Kaushik, SDM Gaurav Chauhan, CEO Zila Parishad Gagandeep Singh, Naib Tehsildar Hardev Singh and other dignitaries were also present on this occasion.