Intra and Inter college kabaddi championship

“A game of thrills, trials and triumph
A game symbolising the victory of virtue over vice
A game that imprints its legacy within our hearts, minds, and souls.”

Kabaddi is fast, furious, and physical, making for a great spectacle – a fact vindicated by the ever-rising global popularity of Pro Kabaddi. This franchise-based kabaddi league started in India in 2014. The game is a man-to-man competition between two teams. Each team had a count of 10 members. A kabaddi match typically runs for 40 minutes (two halves of 20 minutes each). The match started with a coin toss between the two teams and the winner can decide whether to raid or defend first. Each team is allowed two time-outs in each half.

On 24th May 2024, The Bhawanipur Education Society College witnessed the start of an exhilarating day of the Intra-College Kabaddi Championship from 10:30 A.M. onwards at the Jubilee Hall. The inaugural ceremony of the tournament was graced by the presence of the Rector and Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Dilip Shah. In his welcome speech, Prof. Dilip Shah highlighted the significance of this sport and acknowledged the harsh weather conditions that necessitated holding the championship indoors. He emphasised the college’s commitment to promoting sports and physical activities despite various challenges proving the proverb, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”. His speech set a positive tone for the championship, inspiring the participants and spectators alike. The event witnessed overwhelming participation, with approximately 190 participants in total. There were 19 teams in total, 14 in the boys’ category and the other 5 teams in the girls’ category. The day commenced with the knockout rounds where the boys’ category had 4 rounds in total meanwhile the girls’ teams played a total of 3 rounds to triumph in the championship.

In the boys’ category, the first two knockout rounds were intense with all the teams giving their best to secure a place in the semi-finals. The semi-finals heightened with excitement as 4 teams competed for a final spot. The nail-biting final match took place between the Bhawanipur Team A and Team B. It gathered a large audience with the chief referee of the game being the college’s very own coach of the kabaddi team, Mr Swarup Ghosh, also known to be the West Bengal senior Kabaddi team coach. The final score was 46-44 in favor of BESC team A crowning them the champions of this Intra-college championship. In the girl’s category, there were a total of 5 teams in this category. The first round witnessed two knockout matches, one between Ruthless Riders & BESC girl Team 2, and another between Royal Tigers & BESC girls Team 1. The winners of these matches directly qualified for the semi-finals, meanwhile team Dynamic was made to play matches with both the losing teams, further, the top-2 teams in this ranking secured a position next to each of the teams who previously qualified for the semi-finals. After the intense semi-final round the teams that made their way sportily to the finals were BESC girls Team 1 and Team 2. The final score of this match was 26-34 in favour of BESC girls’ team 2, crowning them the champions of this Intra-College championship.

With the Intra-College Championship behind them, BESC commenced with the Inter-College Kabaddi Championship on the 25th of May 2024 on the grounds of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India, West Bengal State Unit. A total of 8 colleges from and around Kolkata participated in the championship and gathered at the venue at 8 A.M. With 12 members in each team, 8 boys teams and 6 girls teams competed in the matches that began at 10 A.M. with all the rounds being in a knockout format. The rise in temperature was followed by the rise in temper and spirits as players went toe-to-toe to secure their position in the finals. At around 2:30 P.M., the event winners were the BESC’s Main team in both the boys and the girls category who happily raised the Championship trophy. As runners-up of the event, the Raidighi College in the boys category and the Dhruba Chand Halder College in the girls category were presented with Silver medals to mark their achievement.

Overall the two days were a resounding success with enthusiastic participation from many students even in the dwindling weather. The championship provided a platform for the students to display their athletic prowess and fostered a sense of unity and camaraderie among the participating teams.

Reporter – Mahi Bosmia.
Photographer – Aditya Saraf and Sanika Shaw.