CONDOLENCES

The executive committee of the Kabaddi Association of Kuala Lumpur (KAKL) would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of Nagalingam, who passed away earlier today.


The funeral is scheduled for tomorrow and will update the details as soon as we get.

Naga was a gifted kabaddi player and was among the first names the selection committee came up when the Federal Territory team for SUKMA was being made.

Naga is a key raider in the Sri Devi Tigers squad and would have been a great asset to the state.

His untimely and demise at such a young age is to say cruel.

Our prayers are with him and may his soul rest in peace. He will be remembered by all of us.

Members are requested to pay their last respects to Naga at 30-1-5 Rista Villa, Putra Perdana, Puchong.

Patialla to defend crown

All India Circle Kabaddi Federation secretary Ved Sharma has confirmed that defending champions Patialla of Punjab would be back to defend the International Inter City Kabaddi Championships from 5-7th March, 2010.

Patialla grabbed a double at the inaugural championships in 2009. Their men's team defeated Kuala Lumpur in a keenly fought final and would be the team to watch at the championships.

While the Patialla team is expected to miss some of their players from the last championships, they are expected to bring in some new but equally experienced faces.

The other confirmed teams for the championships are Katmandu and New Delhi.

It will be the first appearance for Katmandu while Delhi played at the last championships.

Katmandu confirms

More teams have confirmed their participation at the 2nd KL International Inter City Kabaddi Championships from March 5-7.

But to keep up the excitement, we will release the team names one at a time.

Today, we are happy to confirm the participation of the team from Katmandu. It would be the first appearance of a Nepali team in a competition in Malaysia.

It would also be a Nepali teams first appearance in any competition, outside the South Asian region.

Naresh Gautham, who has been a prime mover for kabaddi in Nepal, confirmed that the men's team from Katmandu was all set to make the trip to Kuala Lumpur.

We will announce the name of yet another team tomorrow. So stay tuned for more details.

Segar claims the City

Segar stunned fancied Sri Devi Princess enroute to winning the women's title at the City Day Kabaddi Championships at Dataran Merdeka.

Segar won the title after finishing unbeaten in the round robin competition.

The 64-42 defeat of the Princess, was sweet revenge for Segar, having lost to the same side in the top of the table clash in the Premier League Kabaddi earlier this month.

The Princess started off strongly in the early stages of their match against Segar, but their game collapsed following the exit of their star raider Vishaleeny.

Vishaleeny limped out of the game with a knee injury with he side holding a good lead in the first half. Followng her exit, Segar played with more urgency to whittle down the deficit and romp home comfortable winners.

Princess finished second after they defeated Sri Manjari 43-33. Manjari also lost to Segar 53-57 in another group match.

The men's title went to favourites Sri Devi Dragons. The Dragons blew away Kg Pandan Lions 34-20 for their first title of the year.

The Lions started confidently in the final and even held a four point lead in the early stages of the game. But a defensive error at that stage saw the Dragons eclipse the deficit.

Once the four point deficit was erased, the Dragons played with more urgency to defend the title they won last year.

The Indian expatriate team of Pasum Ponn finished third.

The City Day Kabaddi championships was held with the assistance of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

More pictures from the tournament are available here.

Group of Death

Favourites Sri Devi Dragons will have the going tough in Group A of the City Day kabaddi championships at the Dataran Merdeka on Sunday.

The Dragons have been drawn in the same group as a much improved Kg Pandan Lions and the Indian expatriate team of Pasum Ponn A in what could be termed as a group of death.

The biggest threat for the Dragons would be the Lions, who have gone strength to strength in recent months.

Selayang are favoured to qualify from Group B but they too will have a fight in their hands against the Sri Devi Tigers.

Pasum Ponn A and Malaysia Nanban are expected to fight it out for top place in Group C.

The two best second placed team from the two group will take on each other in a playoff for a berth in the semi-finals.

In the women's competition, newly crowned Kuala Lumpur Premier League Kabaddi champions Sri Devi Princess will have to be top form if tehy harbour hopes of winning the title.

They will have to contend with the dangerous Sri Manjari and Segar for the title.

All matches will start at 8.30 am. Teams are expected to report for the competition by 7.30am.

Local television station TV3 would be doing a live crossover of the event between 7 and 7.30 am.

Apart from kabaddi, competitions for Silambam, paintball, chinese checkers would also be held at the Dataran Merdeka.

The Kabaddi Association of Kuala Lumpur would also be staging a special demonstration match at the Dataran Merdeka on February 1 at 2.00pm.


GROUPINGS AND DRAW

MEN
GROUP A: Sri Devi Dragons, Pasum Ponn B, Kg Pandan Lions
Group B: Selayang, Sri Devi Tigers, Segar
Group C: Pasum Ponn A, Kg Pandan Tigers, Malaysia Nanban

WOMEN
GROUP X: Sri Devi Princess, Segar, Sri Manjari


SCHEDULE
7.30am: Live crossover by Selamat Pagi Malaysia on TV3
8.30am: SD Dragon vs Pasum Ponn B
8.30am: Selayang vs SD Tigers
9.00am: Pasum Ponn A vs KP Tigers
9.00am: SD Princess vs Sri Manjari
10.00am: Pasum Ponn B vs KP Lions
10.00am: SD Tigers vs Segar
10.30am: KP Tigers vs Malaysia Nanban
10.30am: Segar vs Sri Manjari
11.30am: SD Dragons vs KP Lions
11.30am: Selayang vs Segar
12.00noon: Pasum Ponn A vs Malaysia Nanban
12.00noon: SD Princess vs Sri Manjari
1.00pm: Best Second Place vs 2nd Best Second Place`
2.00pm: Winner A vs Winner B
2.00pm: Winner C vs Playoff winner
3.00pm: Final
3.45pm Prize Giving

Ishwar to lend golden touch

Former national coach Dr Ishwar Angadi is being sought by the Kabaddi Association of Kuala Lumpur (KAKL) to fine tune the Federal Territory SUKMA kabaddi team.

With winning both the gold medals at stake firmly in mind, KAKL hopes that Dr Ishwar's expertise would give the side the golden edge.

KAKL president S.T. Arasu said that he had already discussed the matter with Dr Ishwar.

"Ishwar is more than happy to assist the team. However, there is still the matter of getting the necessary paperwork to be done," said Arasu.

Dr Ishwar is attached with the Sports Authority of India (SAI). He coached the Malaysian side to the Busan Asian Games as well as the Asian Championships in 2003.

He is a close personal friend of the KAKL president. Arasu was the team manager to the Busan Asian Games and was personally responsible in hiring Dr Ishwar to coach in Malaysia.

Both of them were also responsible in rewriting the kabaddi rules, currently being used at the world level. The duo also worked hand-in-hand to come out with the Level One Coaching Manual.

"I will discuss the matter further with the SAI regional director Mr Ranawat. The director has always been helpful in the past and I do not see any major problems in getting Ishwar released from his duties to coach the SUKMA team," said Arasu.

If everything goes as planned, Ishwar would arrive here in mid May to handle the team.

The states chief coach R. Balamurugan has worked before with Dr Ishwar, both as a player and as an assistant coach.

"We believe that Ishwar's presence here would be a great boost to the state team. The players would certainly gain a lot from him," said Arasu.

He added, although Dr Ishwar's release may take a month or so to cement, his name has been submitted to the Majlis Sukan Wilayah Persekutuan to be registered as a coach of the team.

Delhi first to officially confirm

The Delhi team is the first to officially confirm their participation at this year's International Inter City Kabaddi Championships at the Stadium Titiwangsa from March 5-7.

While many teams have indicated verbally of their intentions to take part, the New Delhi team is the first to send in their entry before the closing date on February 1.

New Delhi, which fielded only the men team at the inaugural championships, will field both the men and women team this time.

New Delhi team manager Hansraj Singh said that the team was looking forward to play at the tournament.

"We are all excited about coming to play in Kuala Lumpur," he said.

The Delhi team failed to shine in 2008, finishing last in the competition. But they are expected to come with a much stronger team for this years championships.

The KAKL expects the rest of the teams to submit their official entries before the end of January.

For the men's competition, KAKL also expects teams from Chennai, Patialla, Katmandu, Faridabad, Amristar, Oslo, Taipei, Colombo and Kashmir. We are expected to field teams from Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya and at least one other local team.

For the women's competition, teams expected to play apart from New Delhi are Patialla, Faridabad, Oslo, Colombo as well as Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

The championships is being held with the support from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, the Federal Territory Sports Council and the Sports Ministries Federal Territory Department.

Deputy Foreign Minister YB Senator Tuan Kohilan Pillay is the patron of the event.