Kenya beaten by Bangladesh in Bangabandhu Cup final

Kenya lost 31-34 to Bangladesh in a tightly fought Bangabandhu Cup International Kabaddi Tournament at the Shaheed Noor Hossain Volleyball Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday night.

Kenya lost to the same opponent in last year’s final and were again undone by the hosts at the final hurdle.

Kenya’s Victor Onyango Obiero won the best raider award that comes with a Sh26,600 cash prize. He was also named man-of-the-match in the semis where he got a Sh13,300 cash reward.

Eight teams participated in this year’s second edition of the tournament, commemorating the birth centenary of the Father of The Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The Kenyan team that is coached by Laventer Oguta was using the tournament to prepare for the World Cup in December 2022 in Dubai, a competition in which they also finished second last year.

Kabaddi is a contact team sport that originated from Tamil Nadu, India and involves two teams of seven players.

A single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", runs into the opposing team's half on the court and is supposed to touch as many as possible of the opponents defenders and return to their own half of the court without being tackled by the defenders.

Points are scored for each player tagged by the raider, while the opposing team earns a point for stopping the raider.

Players are taken out of the game if they are touched or tackled, but are brought back in for each point scored by their team from a tag or tackle.

The team with the most points after the game emerges victorious. The game was popularized as a competitive sport in the 20th century and it is the national sport of Bangladesh.

The duration of the match is two halves of 20 minutes with a half time break of five minutes.