Have you played kabaddi? Hard-hitting sport coming to Windsor for inaugural tournament

Kabaddi makes Windsor debut The sport has deep roots in India, but has been gaining traction around the world in recent years. Sanjay Maru explains.

Now 19 years old, Taj Deol still has fond memories of playing kabaddi with his brother in the backyard of their family home nine years ago.

"We used to play it all the time. It's a very exciting sport. It's a ritual from our culture and it brings out the spirit of us," said Taj Deol, standing in front of McHugh Park in Windsor.

The park will host a historical event in Windsor's sport history on Sunday. That's because, for the first time, the city will play host to a professional kabaddi tournament.

Upon watching a kabbadi match, the sport plays out like a combination of tag and rugby.

Two teams of players — most commonly, seven players each — take turns sending a "raider" into the opponent's half.

The raider's aim is to touch, or tag, as many defenders as possible and safely return to their own half in a 30-second time frame.

The raider must hold their breath and continuously chant "kabbadi" to prove they are not inhaling.

Meanwhile, the defenders are trying to stop the raider by tackling and holding them back. There's strategy involved — since the defending team has to try and tackle the raid while also preventing any opportunity for the raider to tag them.

If the raider successfully returns to his half, their team earns points depending on how many defenders were tagged. If the raider is caught beforehand, the defending team scores instead.

"I would personally compare this more to wrestling because you're trying to grab the other player and stop them from crossing and running over to the other side. So it's a pretty aggressive sport," said Deol, a member of the Windsor Kabaddi Club.

The club is hosting Windsor's first kabaddi tournament Sunday at McHugh Park, bringing in seven teams of top-level players from around the world.

The event is free and will include food, local vendors and a "fun zone" for kids.

"We would like to invite everybody from the whole Windsor-Essex community and around the area to come join us for the first Windsor Kabaddi Cup event," said organizer Akaalinder Dhaliwal.

According to Dhaliwal, kabaddi has not been able to reach the heights of cricket in terms of worldwide popularity since the latter sport has more dominant international promotion behind it.

He added while cricket was born in England and spread to more countries, kabaddi has primarily stayed within India.

But through tournaments like the Windsor Kabaddi Cup, Dhaliwal hopes that can change.

"Kabaddi can be as big as cricket one day. There is no doubt about it," said Dhaliwal. "The sport came out in Punjab. With Punjabis all around the world now, kabaddi is going all around the world now as well."

Organizers say Sunday's tournament will begin at 11 a.m. and run throughout the day, until the final match ends around 8:30 p.m.