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KABBADI!

Paddy Power to sponsor 2025 Kabaddi World Cup in England

It's the game that continues to grow!

PADDY POWER has been revealed as the sponsors of next year's Kabaddi World Cup.

The bookmakers - the proud sponsors of the upcoming World Darts Championship - will turn the ever-growing game of Kabaddi green when it comes to England in March.

Kabaddi dates back thousands of years as a self-defence game in India
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Kabaddi dates back thousands of years as a self-defence game in IndiaCredit: AFP
It's grown hugely in recent years and England will now host the World Cup
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It's grown hugely in recent years and England will now host the World CupCredit: Getty

The sport - essentially a large game of tig - has shot to prominence in recent years, airing on mainstream TV.

But it's origins date back 5,000 years in India, when developed to help with self-defence, taking in elements of fencing, rugby and wrestling in a brutal attack vs defence format.

Essentially, each team is looking to score more points than their opponents in the allotted time.

Defenders and attackers can both score points, and a point is gained for each opponent they get out.

A total of 16 nations from four continents will descend on the West Midlands between March 17-23, 2025 looking to be crowned the Kabaddi World Champions.

Asia will send the most representatives with India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and China all taking part.

Paddy Power - How to Play Kabaddi - RAIDING

RAIDING

  • Raiding: When attacking, the offensive team send a raider into the opposition half with the objective of touching one or more defending players without being tackled. Raiders must complete the raid in one breath.
  • To prove this the raider must continue to repeatedly yell the word ‘Kabaddi’. Failure to do this, even for just a moment means that the rider must return to their own side of the court without points and the opposite team is awarded a point for a successful defence play.
  • Teams take turns to send raiders into their opponents half. Points are scored for each player tagged by the raider. Bonus points are also available for successfully touching the bonus line in an opponents half.

Paddy Power - How to Play Kabaddi - DEFENDING

Defending

  • The team being raided is defending, and the players must prevent the raiders from tagging them and returning back over the halfway line. When in defence, a team may score a point by successfully preventing the raider from returning to their own half after tagging them.
  • Raiders may only be grabbed by their limbs or torso, not by their hair, clothes or anywhere else, and defenders are not permitted to cross the centre line.

Paddy Power - How to Play Kabaddi - TACKLING

Tackling

  • Players are taken out of the game if they are touched or tackled but are brought back in for each point scored by their team from a tag or tackle.
  • Teams: Total numbers of players in each team is 12. Only seven players are allowed onto the playing court. The remaining five will be kept as reserves/substitutes. During the game only the leader is allowed to give instructions to the other players in his team.

Hosts England are joined by rivals Scotland, Italy and Poland from Europe.

There's four from Africa as Tanzania, Kenya, Cameroon and Egypt line up, as well as the USA.

Amongst the host cities is Coventry, who hosted the British Kabaddi League earlier this year and have since formed their own side, the Coventry Chargers.

England Men's football team were snapped playing Kabaddi during their World Cup training in Qatar, such is its popularity.

And with Paddy Power as the sponsors, you can expect a few surprises along the way.

A Paddy Power spokesperson said: "Kabaddi is chaotic, combative, and absolutely bonkers – in other words, it’s everything that, as a brand, Paddy Power loves about sport.

"We’re thrilled to be the Title Sponsor of the Kabaddi World Cup 2025 and to bring this incredible game to a brand new audience.

"Expect banter, big hits, and breathtaking entertainment – this is sport, Paddy Power style."

Paddy Power's Rules of Kabaddi

  • 12 players per team with only 7 taking to the field at any one time.
  • Six officials per match: referee, scorer, two assistant scorers and two umpires.
  • Match duration: 50 minutes (four 10 minutes quarters with two rest breaks of 2 minutes a half time break of 5 minutes.)
  • At the start of a Kabaddi match, there is a coin toss with the winner having the choice as to whether to have the first raid or not. In the second half of the match, the team that did not raid first shall begin the second half with a raid.
  • Each raid lasts a maximum of 30 seconds, a siren is sounded announcing 10 seconds remaining, signalling a raider should conclude their raid.
  • Each team will take turns in raiding and defending. Following halftime, the two teams switch sides of the court and the team who defended first in the first half begin the second half by raiding.
  • The game continues in this way until the time is up, the team with the most points at the end of the match is declared the winner.

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