India lifted the title of the second Kabaddi World Cup after defeating Canada in the final in Guru Nanak Stadium on Sunday while in the women’s final India defeated England by 44-17. In the men’s final, India defeated Canada by 59-25. At the half time, India were leading by 28-13. In the women’s final, India beat England by 44-17. At the break, India were leading by 26-6. Pakistan grabbed third place in the event after defeating Italy by 60-22. Earlier, the second Kabaddi World Cup came to a close with a scintillating ceremony after a 20-day long competition in which 14 countries for men section and four countries in women section had vied for Rs 4.11 crore prize money.
Australia and USA were disqualified as most of their players were found dope positive by NADA.
The closing ceremony began with an impressive police and army band presentation in the fully floodlit newly upgraded Guru Nanak Stadium.
The whole of Punjab seemed to have descended at the stadium to witness the fierce encounter between India and Canada, besides a glimpse of Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone and Chitrangda Singh. As light and sound show set the stage for the closing ceremony, the countdown video of the 20-day long event recalled the every moment of the tournament that has brought traditional game of Punjab Kabaddi on the world stage. The video screen relived the excitement of wins and trauma of losses and showed the evolution of World Cup Kabaddi tournament to this exciting stage of finals.
The audio visual programme gave an overview of progress made by Punjab in various fields and initiatives of SAD-BJP government in strengthening the infrastructure besides initiatives in the fields of education, governance reforms and steps like Right to Service Act.
As the video recalled the history, the whole sky of Ludhiana was filled with fireworks. As the evening warmed up, ‘Jai Ho’ — the beautifully choreographed dance — gave a new energy to the audience with 295 dancers making beautiful patterns, intermingling with each other and making a new figure every other second. Speaking on the occasion, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal thanked the teams and organisers for making the event a success and taking Kabaddi to international arena. Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said that he hoped to take Kabaddi in 2016 Olympics. He said that SAD-BJP government has provided record number of jobs to players in every department as he had strictly imposed the condition of three per cent job quota for them.
He said that Rs 200 crore which were spent on 14 stadiums would improve the level of sports as players would get world class infrastructure in every game. The closing ceremony reached its climax as Akshay Kumar entered the stadium riding on a bike. He had a round of stadium on motorcycle and performed aerobics by riding on the motorcycle. Leaving the script behind, Akshay jump from motorcycle and rushed towards audience and showed them his grip on modern dance. He performed on the beats of famous international Punjabi Band-RDB and gave his performance on ‘Desi Boyz’. Performing on the song of ‘Singh Is King’, Akshay Kumar along with Deepika Padukone and Chitrangda Singh set the stadium on fire.
Akshay, accompanied by deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, had a round of stadium in an open Mercedes. A six-a-side laser beam show created a dream scene in the stadium. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Chaudhary Sujat Hussain, former Information and Sports Minister Chaudhary Nisar Hussain, Pakistan Punjab’s former Education Minister Mian Imran Masood, Acting Ambassador of Germany Ford Millard, Punjab Cabinet Minister Tikshan Sud along with his several Cabinet colleagues, Members of Parliament Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Balwinder Singh Bhunder were also present.
