Lahore Lions off to flying start

Pakistan team defeats Vancouver club in World Kabaddi League.

KARACHI: Lahore Lions began the World Kabaddi League campaign on a winning note as they defeated Vancouver Lions 74-61 at the O2 Arena in London on Sunday.

The Punjab government is fielding Pakistan’s national players in the event, which has seven other teams competing for the top spot.

Pakistan dominated the match from the start, taking the lead 21-15 by the end of the first quarter.

The team also led the second and third quarters 42-31 and 58-45 respectively before concluding the match in the final quarter with a difference of 13 points.

Shafiq Ahmad Chishti was declared the man-of-the-match for his tactics and shared the best-raider-of-the-match prize with Vancouver’s Sucha Singh. Meanwhile, Mahsin Naseer took the best stopper of the match award with Canada’s Kulvinder Singh.



Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) Secretary Muhammad Sarwar said that the World Kabaddi League is a great initiative to promote the traditional sport at the global level.

“Kabaddi is now on the map of the world sports,” Sarwar told The Express Tribune. “Our national players are competing internationally and it’s something that they will benefit from.

“Playing club tournaments is nothing new for our athletes. In fact, our players had participated in the local UK-based kabaddi clubs earlier this year.

“All the players are in shape and with this initiative they will get the recognition they deserve while competing among the top clubs.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2014.

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