2nd Asia Cup Kabaddi kicks off in Pakistan

The second Asia Cup Kabaddi tournament was kicked off on Thursday night in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore. The Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) president and former Pakistani Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain inaugurated the mega event in the colorful ceremony, blended with music and fireworks. The championship will continue till Nov. 5 at the Punjab Sports Stadium in Lahore and six world Kabaddi teams will feature in the event. Indonesia, the seventh participating team, was scheduled to reach Pakistan on Thursday morning but could not come due to some visa issues. All the players of the participating squads were brought in the stadium by horse carts and were welcomed with traditional Punjabi drum beats and Bhangra dance. The six participating teams have been divided in two pools with India, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka placing in Pool A while Pakistan, Iran and Nepal in Pool B. Two top teams from each group will qualify for the semifinals to be played on Sunday followed by the final and playoff match for the third place on Monday. The organizers have allocated a cash prize of Rs. 1.5 million ( 15,790 US dollars) for the winners while the runners-up and third positioned teams will be awarded with cash prizes of 10,526 US dollars and 5,263 US dollars respectively. The first match of the tournament was played between Pakistan and Iran followed by the match between India and Afghanistan. Pakistan team led by captain Musharraf Javed won the contest with a big margin. Earlier, Pakistan team also won a friendly match by 31-22 against Asian XI team. This is the first major sports event in Pakistan's sports city of Lahore after the militants attack at the Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009.