India play Korea in kabaddi WC opener

Two-time champions and favourites India will face South Korea in the opening match of the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup, to be held in Ahmedabad from October 7 to 22.

Besides hosts India, other participating nations in the tournament are USA, England, Australia, Iran, Poland, Thailand, Bangladesh, South Korea, Japan, Argentina and Kenya.

The 12 teams have been divide in two groups of six each.

While Group A consists of India, Bangladesh, South Korea, Australia, England and Argentina, Group B will have Iran, Thailand, Japan, USA, Poland and Kenya.

The semi-finals of the tournament will be held on October 21 with the summit clash slated for the next day.

Sports Minister Vijay Goel announced the schedule and also unveiled the logo of the tournament -- the famous “Asiatic Lion”.

Goel also congratulated the Indian paralympians who had won medals in the ongoing Rio Paralympic Games on the occasion.

“In Rio Olympics our preparation was very good but we didn’t have luck on our side. But in the Paralympics we are doing very well. It’s a matter of pride that we have four medals in Paralympics. When the paralympians will return we will felicitate them,” he said.

International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) president Janardan Singh Gehlot, meanwhile, said their aim now is to take the sport to the Olympics.

“We already took kabaddi to Asiad but now we want to take it to the Olympics. We want people to play kabaddi all across the world,” he said. ZANARDI WINS GOLD

Former Formula One driver Alex Zanardi won his third Paralympic gold medal on Wednesday, a day before the 15th anniversary of the Champ Car crash that cost the Italian both legs and nearly his life.

The 49-year-old won the 20km H5 hand-cycling road time trial in Rio de Janeiro to add to the two golds he won on his Paralympics debut in London four years ago.

“Normally I don’t thank God for these type of things as I believe God has more important stuff to worry about,” he told NBC television. “But today is too much. I had to raise my eyes and thank him. Zanardi, a two times champion in the U.S.based Champ Car series that is now IndyCar, competed in 41 grands prix between 1991 and 1999 with his final season at Williams.

He had both legs amputated above the knee, with his heart stopping seven times as he lost all but a litre of the blood in his body, after the horrific crash at the Lausitzring in Germany on Sept. 15, 2001.

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