About Kabaddi

Kabaddi is one of the most popular games which are played in villages. In this game two teams occupy opposite halves of a field and take turns sending a raider into the other half, in order to win points by tackling members of the opposing team, the raider then tries to return to his own half, holding his breath and chanting the word Kabaddi during the whole raid. The raider must not cross the lobby unless he touches any of his opponents. If he does so then he will be declared as out.

In the international team version of kabaddi, two teams of seven members each occupy opposite halves of a field of 10 m × 13 m in case of men and 8 m × 12 m in case of women. Each has three supplementary players held in reserve. The game is of  two halves 20-minuteseach and a five-minute halftime break during which the teams exchange sides.

Teams take turns sending a raider to the opposite team's half, where the goal of the raider is to touch the members of the opposite team before returning to the home half. The members which are touched by the raider are out and temporarily sent off the field.

The goal of the defenders is to stop the raider from returning to the home side before taking a breath.If any of the seven players cross the lobby without touching the raider he will be declared as out.

The raider is sent off the field if:

• the raider takes a breath before returning
• the raider crosses boundary line
• a part of the raider's body touches the ground outside the boundary (except during a struggle with an opposing team member).

Each time when a player is out, the opposing team earns a point. A team scores a bonus of two points, called a lona, if the entire opposing team is declared out. At the end of the game, the team with the most points wins.

Matches are categorized based on age and weight. Six officials supervise a match: one referee, two umpires, a scorer and two assistant scorers.