Kabaddi: Annual tournament in Hastings lures 36 professionals from overseas

Surinder Singh Waheguru (left) and Ajit Singh Jeeta are among 36 professional kabaddi players who will compete at the annual tournament at Elwood Park, Hastings, tomorrow. Photo/Paul Taylor

Growing up in Punjab, Ajit Singh played hockey but his teenage mates were convinced he was better suited to kabaddi.

Singh was sold on his friends' opinion but he still yearned for a final endorsement — that of his family.

"My family wasn't supportive initially because it wasn't seen as an easy game and kind of dangerous," says the 25-year-old through interpreter/manager Jagdeep Judge "JJ" Singh.

It didn't help the "mother sport" of India champions physicality, without the protection of equipment, but when they realised he was excelling and coming through virtually unscathed the stopper rose as "Jeeta Talwindi" from the clay fields of his village.

Talwindi and fellow exponent Surinder Singh (who goes by the kabaddi moniker of Waheguru) are the professional imports in the SBBS (Sant Baba Bhag Singh) Kabaddi Club team from Hastings who will compete with five other sides at the Elwood Park grounds in Hastings from 1pm to 5pm tomorrow. The pair are among 36 professionals who will be representing the teams during the annual tourney where dignitaries, such as Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst, National MP Lawrence Yule and Hastings council group manager community programmes and facilities Alison Banks, will be present.

In a country where academic pursuits take precedence, Talwindi's parents also wanted him to get a haircut and a real job.

A grinning Talwindi reveals he is 10 per cent crop farmer and 90 per cent kabaddi professional who earns enough to lead a comfortable life.

Fans were treated to some crunching tackles and grapples at Elwood Park, Hastings, in April last year. Photo/file

Kabaddi is a sport that enjoys the popularity of rugby in Northern India where the televised lucrative Pro Kabaddi League enthusiasts are accorded a following akin to IPL cricketers.

The Punjabi format of the game pits four raiders (attackers) and four stoppers (defenders), as opposed to the "national style" in Asia where one raider has to tag one of seven stoppers before retreating to his half.

The sport originated in the southern state of Tamil Nadu where it promoted the life skills of hunting and defending one's village.

While there are four major variations in India, the principles of the game remain the same, albeit traditionally shirtless blokes grappling on dirt and grass. However, nowadays players sport swanky strips and the competition is staged on indoor artificial courts.

Once a gangly guy, Talwindi now sports muscles peeping from under the sleeves of his T-shirt and unintentionally parades a pectoral region with contours that has promised resolute defence for the past five years.

"I now have no regrets and I'm quite proud to be a professional player of kabaddi and I want to see how far it takes me," he says, indebted to the Kabaddi Association of New Zealand and confident the SBBS team will prevail tomorrow.

SBBS bowed out of the semifinal to eventual winners Tipoki last year.

He was named man of the match at the Surrey tourney in Vancouver, Canada, last year.

Surinder Singh, alias Waheguru (left), with Kabaddi Federation of New Zealand chairman Paramjit Singh (Pammi Balina) and fellow SBBS team import Ajit Singh (Jeeta Talwindi). Photo/supplied

The support of national chairman Paramjit Singh (Pammi Balina) has opened the way for him to compete in Canada as well.

Waheguru has been playing kabaddi for the past six years but it's his first time in New Zealand although he has competed in Sharjah, Spain, Germany, France and Belgium.

Whaeguru comes with the blessing of his village stalwart, Balbir Singh Seechewal, who is revered as a saint in the village where he helped nurture the sport as well as provide facilities.

"I used to play football but saw some senior kabaddi players one day and started following them," says the 25-year-old stopper who shares his nickname with the gods but still has to put the hard yards in training and the gym.

Waheguru was named man of the match in Spain, France and Belgium.

Coach Balina established the Kabaddi Federation of New Zealand purely because of his love for the game.

"Everyone agrees he's a genuine supporter of kabaddi because he has been putting his own money into the sport over the years," says Judge of Balina who returned from Hastings to Auckland after a short visit this week.

"It has helped keep an affinity with the game for the players when they arrived here from India," says Balina, a former player from India who started coaching about three years after arriving in Auckland in 1989.

Last year he became the first person in New Zealand to be awarded a Royal Enfield motorbike — considered a status symbol among Indians — in Takanini.

Tonight the women will gather at the Hastings Intermediate School to partake in a dance ritual, "teeyan da mela", which marks a 13-day monsoonal festival where wives traditionally spent an entire month with their parents at their maternal homes.

Brothers tend to offer gifts of clothing and jewellery.

Tonight the women will gather at the Hastings Intermediate School to partake in a dance ritual, "teeyan da mela", which marks a 13-day monsoonal festival. Photo/supplied