BKF looking to restore past glory
The Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation (BKF) is looking to groom male players for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta with the target of bagging at least one medal, after the men's team failures to secure any medals in the event since the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, where they won bronze.
Once, Kabbadi produced the most medals for Bangladesh in the Asian Games but nowadays winning seems like a distant dream for the three-time silver medallists. The men were even defeated by newcomers Thailand in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and finished seventh among the event's eight participants.
With the quest for at least a silver and the restoration of the image of the country's Kabaddi in their sights, the ad-hoc committee, led by the Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque, have strived to keep Kabaddi on the court year-round. On that note, the 2nd Division Kabaddi League was restarted yesterday, with 14 teams participating, after a two-year hiatus.
"Next year, we will participate in the Asian Games with a target to win at least a medal -- either gold or silver -- because we don't want to come back empty handed," BKF president Hoque told reporters after declaring the second division league open at the Kabaddi Stadium.
The Joint Secretary and Additional Inspector General Mozammel Hoque then disclosed the details of their plans regarding the preparations for the Jakarta Asian Games, which is scheduled to begin on August 18.
"We will hold a trial in the last week of this month with 52 players selected from two tournaments and then the number of players will be reduced before starting a three-month training camp from August under the guidance of six local coaches," said Mozammel.
The BKF also plans to bring in a foreign coach, as they had with Indian coach K Jagmohan before the 2016 SA Games, to fine-tune Bangladesh's playing style. They have reached out to the Asian Kabaddi Federation, seeking help in finding a quality coach.
"High profile coaches will be engaged in India's Professional Kabaddi League [scheduled to begin on July 28), so we will try to bring a good foreign coach after that and engage him till the next Asian Games," said Mozammel, adding that they were planning to hold an international tournament in March or April to judge the players' performance.