Thrilling kabbadi finish

Half a point was all that separated the winners from the losers in an exciting tourney final

If you are of Indian origin an d even if you're not particularly in t eres ted in sport, you would be familia r with the game of krJbhadi T his sttenuous sport is still p layed enthusiastically in India, an d for the third year runni ng it was p layed in Melbourn e ar the Brim bank Kabb addi and Indian Cultural Festival at Erringtoh R eserve, St Albans o n March 16. T hi s an n ual festival brought together the Punjabi community to watch team s p lay to win th e crown, as well as to celebrate n orth Indian culntre.

Underdogs Brisban e Kabbadi Club tri umphed over Singh Sabha Spor ts C lub (SSSC) b y h alf a p oint in a thrilling m atch The competing tea.in s were Melb ourn e clu bs Sin gh Sabha Sports Club, Yuwa Kran ti, Azad & Ymm Kab badi Clubs; Brisbane w as rep resented by Brisban e Kabbadi C1 Ltb and Brisb a ne Sports Clu b; an d Sydn ey was represented by D ash mesh Sports C lub

An enthusias ti c crowd o f 4,S00 peo p le witnessed the i ncen se competitio n wi th host and favourites SSSC looking co defend its title, b u t they los t 40.5 to 40 in the final to a deter mined Brisbai1e team led by cap tain Lad Johal

"Wh at ai1 ama7J ng final at1d

1 can't believe we wo n th.is tourna ment over t he always stro ng Singh Sabha Club Thanks to the organisers and sponsors for making us feel so welcom e," said the visibly exci ted Johal.

T h e award for 'Most Valuable

Player' was So n y Kau nke from SSSC who said, "I congratulate Brisbane on their vic tory in suc h a tigh t gan1e in a great atm osphere We look forward to next year".

Masters of Cerem ony Ch arnamat Singh at1d Rai1jit Kh ai ra perform ed a dual role of keeping t he c rowd in good humour while providing ei,qJetc commentary o n the k.11hhadi action. T h e Presid ent of Craigieburn Gurndwara, Kulwant Singh atten ded th e event which was offic ially o p e ned by

1\faria Mamva kiniou, Federa l l'vfP for C alwell, an d closed b y Chin

T an, Commission er, V ictorian Multicultural Commission. Variou s dignicaries also graced the o ccasion, wi t h rep rese n tation fro m the Indian Co n sulate of Melbourne, the Sca re governm ent o f Victoria, Brimbat1k Council, Victoria Police, and th e Metrop olitan Fire Brigade.

The crowd s at me event were also entertained witl1 joyous hhm1gra d a nc ing, traditio nal mus ic and poetty fro m Baba! Rai, Jass i Gil and D adhi Jarha 'rhe Punjabi movi e indus tr y was represented wi th scars in attendan ce, inclu ding R a j Kakra. D elicious food was pr ovided by volrn1teers fro m the Craigieburn Sikh Temple w hile ch ild ren e nj oyed a variety of activ ities like face painting, a ttackless t rain, a jumping c astle ai1d sport s clinics ru n by th e Melbourne Victory and Essendon Football Clubs.

"\Vhar a thrilling finale to a nother great event and congratulation s ro Brisbat1e

Kabbadi Club who showed great heart co wi n . A special than k you to our volun tee rs, Brimban k Counci~ all o f our sponsors and we were thrilled to lau nch SSSC's new partnership with Mo neygram at the eve n t", said SSSC Sec retary General A ji t Singh.

" l have bee n invo lved with the SSSC for the past 16 years but tlus event h as b een t he best", stated SSSC Club President T e jpal Singh

D hillon , also acknowledging an d mauking sponsors and m embers for making the event p ossi b le.

Established in 1994 , SSSC is o n e o f tl1e old est and proudest lndian sporting cl ubs in Austtalia. Ir has contributed en o r mously toward s helping the Pun jabi communi ty to betre.r in tegrate i nto Australian spo r t and culture while still maincaining tradi tio n al an d cultural values.

Ajit Singh Chouhan