Asian Games: Iran women’s kabaddi team get a hand from India at Sonepat

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Sonepat, Haryana, was a hub of activity over the past week, with the Iran women’s national kabaddi team using it as a base for preparations for the upcoming Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. Their Indian counterparts lent a hand during the six-day camp, playing a series of friendly matches against them.

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre at Sonepat in Haryana was a hub of activity over the past week, with the Iran national women’s kabaddi team using it as a base for their preparations for the upcoming Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. Lending them a hand during the six-day camp were their Indian counterparts, with whom they played a number of friendly matches.

Their training camp had attracted considerable media attention, thanks to the volatile geopolitical climate and Iran’s position at the centre of the West Asian crisis. Gholamreza Mazandarani, the Iran women’s team head coach, said the camp had been particularly valuable for his young squad, with more than 80 per cent of the team having changed since the previous Asian Games.

“For us, it was a very good chance to play friendly matches, improve the players and work on our team tactics. It has been a good experience for our young team, as more than 80 per cent of the squad has changed since the team that played in Guangzhou,” Mazandarani said.

Speaking to SAI media, Mazandarani said the sheer depth of India’s kabaddi ecosystem gives its players a major advantage, with Indian athletes getting far more competitive matches during the year than their Iranian counterparts.

“In Iran, we have around 4,000 kabaddi players, both men and women. Here, I feel you have more than 10 million kabaddi players, and that’s a very big number,” he added.“A kabaddi player in India, irrespective of the age group, plays more than 50-60 matches a year. This is a big advantage for them, as they can improve their skills through these matches,” Mazandarani continued.

“One kabaddi player in India, irrespective of the age group, plays more than 50-60 matches in a year. This is a big plus for them as they can improve their skills during the matches,” Mazandarani continued.

Naveen Kumar, coach of the Indian national team, felt that the experience of playing practice matches against Iran would be highly beneficial for the players.

“Most of our new players are at the junior level, and they got an opportunity to learn a lot from playing against the Iranian team. They got to understand how Iran plays, and it also gave us an idea of how our young squad needs to prepare for the future. The matches were very good, and we are very happy with the experience,” the Indian coach said.

“The Iranian team had a few players who have featured in three Asian Games, so they have a lot of experience. Their fitness, strength and explosive power are very good, and our young players can learn a lot from them. The dedication and energy with which they compete are also qualities our youngsters can learn from. Overall, it was a very useful experience for our team,” Kumar added.

Iran’s Zahra Karimi, who visited India for the third time, also underlined the value of the exposure trip. “One of the biggest differences between Iran and India is that we don’'t have so many players in Iran and we can't compete with different players. India can play with different players and different teams. India also has a National Games, which is very good for them but we don’t have anything like that,” she added.

Looking beyond the Asian Games, Mazandarani hoped such exchanges can become a longer-term feature of kabaddi's international development. “I think the base of kabaddi is in India. Every coach and every player who wants to improve and come to the top level needs to come to India,” he said. “Maybe in the long term, two or three months, we can continue, make strategy with the Iran team, improve the players and play friendly matches with local teams and the best players. This can improve kabaddi in every corner of the world.”