00:00My name is Ranjit Singh, I'm head coach of Wolverhampton Wrestling Club and the Women's Wolfpack Kabaddi Team.
00:07Kabaddi? Now, that name rings a bell. What is Kabaddi? Describe it to me, Ranjit.
00:12Kabaddi is a mix between, I would say, sports like wrestling, British Bulldog, let's say.
00:20That used to be played in all the playgrounds around everywhere from school days.
00:24It's kind of a mix between there, but it's a lot to do with actual teamwork.
00:29You have to gel together as a team, where you've got a radar coming in.
00:35I was going to say, talk us through the basic, you start off with two teams either side of a match, is that right?
00:41Yeah, so you've got seven players on each side. One radar comes from one team.
00:45Comes to score a point by either getting the bonus line or actually touching any one or as many players as possible
00:53and getting back to the centre line to score a point.
00:55But if the defensive team takes them down and keeps them there and not being able to get back to the line,
01:02then they score the points and plus that radar is out.
01:06Now that sounds very simple, but I educated myself earlier on today and was watching a bit of videos of some Kabaddi games.
01:14It's really tricky, isn't it? To get in amongst a group and tag someone while their team are already starting to come round,
01:20you're ready for the tackle. It's not easy, is it, to get points?
01:23No, no, not easy. It becomes a very tactical game where you have to manoeuvre as a team to obviously stop the radar from achieving their point.
01:33But yeah, it's quite a fun game at the same time as a very competitive game, let's say.
01:41So Kabaddi World Cup, when's it happening?
01:44So it starts on the 17th of March and until the 24th.
01:49The opening ceremony and the first matches of both England's men and women's are held at Audsley Stadium
01:55and the finals are actually at the Civic Hall.
01:57That's it? It's all happening in the Midlands, isn't it? Like you say, with that big fire at the Civic.
02:01That's a great coup for Wolverhampton, isn't it?
02:03Yeah, it's massive. It's the first time the event's left Asia.
02:06So to bring it to the Midlands and Wolverhampton itself hosting the finals is a huge achievement.
02:15So you're from the wrestling club. Today we've got the Ladies England team here doing the training
02:21and there's a few of them from your club, I believe.
02:24Yeah, we have six in the England squad playing at the World Cup.
02:28Having only taken the sport on a year ago, it's a massive achievement for the women in the team.
02:35Well, also for yourself and the club, I mean, you know, that speaks volumes of what you've been doing there.
02:39Well done.
02:40Yeah, thank you.
02:41And I think the most important thing is that we are all based locally,
02:45so we form this team from the local community itself.
02:49And if people wanted to get involved, when do they train then with you?
02:53So we have six days of training.
02:55Yeah?
02:56Yeah, at three different venues, three different academies, which are our own.
03:02And so if you just search on the net, Wolverhampton Wrestling Club, you get to our social media
03:08and we can inform you of all the training.
03:10But we're based at the Cantercrow C Cawdorra in Wolverhampton and that's our main base.
03:15Awesome. Well, well done for getting six into the team.
03:18And good luck, Ladies England. Let's get them to the final at the Wolves Civic.
03:22Thank you, Ranjit.
03:24So go on, ladies, introduce yourselves. What are your names?
03:27My name is Manpreet Kaur.
03:29My name is Iman Siddiqui.
03:30So you're both Wolverhampton?
03:32Yes.
03:33And you remember Ranjit's wrestling club, are you?
03:35Yes.
03:36So what do you enjoy about Kabaddi? I mean, I'm watching it. It just makes me smile, basically.
03:40But what is it you'd say you enjoy about it?
03:43I'd say everything, to be fair. It's very exciting.
03:46It's a teamwork. It's hard work. It's sweat.
03:50So you just have to work all together for the best results.
03:53Yeah.
03:54So I'd say I'd keep it short, sweet.
03:56Yeah. About yourself?
03:57I think for me, I think it's just passion. Watching my dad grow up playing it.
04:00So that gives me passion to play.
04:02To go home and tell him, I did this, and he'd turn around and be like, well, that's wrong.
04:06And six people from Wolves in the England team. It's good going, isn't it?
04:11Right, well, let your crack on then, girls. Thank you.
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