The Sports Ministry on Thursday felicitated the players and coaching staff of the Indian team that won the Kabaddi World Cup recently and awarded them Rs.10 lakh each.The entire Indian squad led by captain Anup Kumar, chief coach Balwan Singh and assistant coach Bhaskaran Edachery was felicitated by Sports Minister Vijay Goel at his residence here.During the felicitation speech, the minister announced that the government will make all efforts to include kabaddi in the Olympic Games. "These players should be looked up to as role models for the youth in India," he said. The entire nation is very proud of the team for the glory it brought to the country. "It gives us immense pleasure to see that Indian sportspersons are performing very well in the global arena," the minister said.
The 2016 Kabaddi World Cup was the first instance that the showpiece event of the ancient sport received representation from all Olympic geographies with teams from the US, England, Australia, Iran, Poland, Thailand, Bangladesh, South Korea, Japan, Argentina and Kenya participating. Defending champions India went on to lift the trophy in a fiercely contested final against a resolute Iran side 38-29. India have thus won all three editions of the Kabaddi World Cup that have been held so far. Iran, regarded as one of the powerhouses of the sport, have finished as runners-up on all three occassions.