4,000-Year-Old Game Played in Queens

New York, NY —

Last weekend a tournament involving a game said to be played for the last four thousand years old took place. Drummers, singers and crowds gathered in Queens.

Arun Venugopal reports on the festivities.

REPORTER: It’s springtime, and if you’re Punjabi, you’re the sporting type and you live in Queens, that can only mean one thing....

REPORTER: That’s right, kabadi. This Sunday, 15,000 people gathered in Smokey Oval park, in Richmond Hill, to watch as Punjabi athletes from around the world competed in one of the world’s oldest sporting rituals.

REPORTER: What is kabadi? Think of it as a combination of tag and wrestling. At the professional level, the sport is played by a bunch of huge men on a circular field. The point is to touch as many players on the opposite team as possible, then run back to your own side of the field without getting tackled. Oh, and you have to keep saying Kabaddi, without taking another breath.

REPORTER: The sport traces its roots back several thousand years.

MC, NARAYAN PANDIT: When the farmer has some time, they go in the open field and they play kabaddi. That’s the best source of entertainment for them. This is one of the most vigorous and most popular sports of Punjab.

REPORTER: Today, kabaddi is played in various forms throughout India, Pakistan and other parts of Asia. Some people call it chedugudu, others, hududu. Punjabi immigrants brought the game out West decades ago, and have developed a strong club circuit in England (where Cambridge and Oxford regularly square off), Canada, and California. This year marks the 5th in which New York has hosted an international tournament.

REPORTER: The day began rather ominously, with a steady rain the night before completely soaking the field. Undaunted, the organizers turned to modern technology, renting an industrial vacuum to suck up all the puddles off the field.

REPORTER: But then, sure enough, the sun came out and with it, the crowds, who surrounded the field—and filled the bleachers. But before anyone played, there was a prayer, performed by a Sikh elder.

MANI: before the kabaddi starts, everybody says Thanks to God. In every village, they’re going to thank to God that they’re playing kabadi.

REPORTER: Like at any sporting event, there are concession stands, but here, everything – the rice, the curries, the endless fried snacks and deserts and many gallons of hot, sweet masala tea – are free. All courtesy of local gurdwaras, or Sikh temples. Anoop Singh organized the tournament.

ANOOP SINGH: Our gurdwaras send this for the people. On Sundays at the gurdwara we serve free food. (Track 18)

REPORTER: For all the tradition involved in the game, there have been a few recent changes at the competitive level.

LUCKY: Before you had to say kabadi, kabadi, kabadi. Now you don’t have to say kabadi. You have to go there and come back in 30 seconds. Because everybody wants to see that game, pretty fast game.

REPORTER: It can also be pretty rough. At times, the players – barefoot and wearing just shorts – smack each other across the face and neck, before one tries to pin the other to the ground.

REPORTER: All in all, though, it’s not a bad way to make a living.

LUCKY: Right now, in kabadi, you can make a lot of money if you’re a good player, in Canadian dollars, probably about $50 to $60,000.

REPORTER: Or as much as $47,000 US dollars. Of course, the increased drive to win on the international circuit has brought on some familiar problems. Recently, a top kabaddi player was arrested in San Francisco International Airport while trying to bring in a suitcase filled with steroids.

REPORTER: Still, for most athletes who come out to this corner of Queens on a beautiful spring day, it really does seem like it’s all about the game.

NEELO: My dream is to play kabadi, kabadi, kabadi. I love kabadi.

REPORTER: At the end of the day, the team from Eastern Canada was declared the winner, taking home the $10,000 (?) prize. California won 2nd place.