Some of the biggest stars including Pawan Sehrawat, Aslam Inamdar, Rahul Chaudhari and Ashu Malik and a young brigade of aspiring champions in Indian kabaddi are showcasing their top skills in the ongoing 70th Senior National Men’s Kabaddi Championship that will go on till March 24, 2024.
The Senior Nationals is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the domestic kabaddi calendar which gives talented youngsters an opportunity to pit themselves against established stars. It also helps them to make their way to the Indian national team, a dominant force in the world of kabaddi with eight gold medals in the Asian Games since 1990. Fans are witnessing the high-quality competition among the teams vying for the prestigious National Champions status.
Organised by the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India, the ongoing edition of the Senior National Men’s Kabaddi championship is being broadcast on an OTT platform FanCode for the first time. The broadcast ensures that high-quality Kabaddi coverage reaches the audience and gives further exposure to one of the most watched sports in the world.
As per the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) the opening day of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 (2022) registered an astounding reach of 46 million and a consumption of 1.41 billion minutes, significantly higher in comparison to the opening day of the global marquee sporting event - FIFA World Cup 2022, Qatar which recorded a reach of 9.7 million.
The broadcasting partner of the tournament is Elev8 India Sportz Pvt Ltd., which owns and executes the Yuva Kabaddi Series and over 80 young stars including Ashu Malik (Haryana), Gagan Gowda (Karnataka) and M Sudhakar (Indian Railways) from the tournament are participating in the ongoing competition. Meanwhile, BanyanBoard are providing high-quality graphics and data points to make this a unique viewing experience for kabaddi fans.
Prominent players who are in action in the four-day extravaganza at the District Sports Complex here, include Pawan Sehrawat, who led Indian Railways to their fourth-consecutive title last year but will represent Chandigarh this year, Vishal Bharadwaj and Narendra (Chandigarh), Aslam Inamdar (Maharashtra), Sunil Kumar, Surender Gill (Indian Railways), Arjun Deshwal (Services) and Rahul Chaudhari (Uttar Pradesh) among others.
“The Senior Nationals is always the finale of the kabaddi season with everyone, from the big stars to the youngster making his debut geared up to give his best for the state and make a mark. Kabaddi has huge popularity in the country and with such tournaments we will continue to reach new heights,” said Mr. Shashikant Gade, Secretary Ahmednagar District Amateur Kabaddi Federation and Vice President of Maharashtra State Kabaddi Association.
A total of 30 teams will be vying for the prestigious crown in a round-robin cum knock-out format.