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What's the story?
The commencement date for the Senior National Kabaddi Championships, which is set to play host to some of the best kabaddi players in the country, has been confirmed as the 31st of December of 2017 and will come to a close on the 5th of January, 2018.
The Championships will follow an inter-state format which will see players representing their respective states as they chase the ultimate spoils.
In case you didn't know
The National Championships will feature two divisions, senior and junior. The tournament is set to take place in Hyderabad at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, which also happens to be the home stadium of the Telugu Titans, a franchise in the Pro Kabaddi League.
The heart of the matter
The Nationals scenario, which pits some of the best Indian Kabaddi players against each other will follow a round-robin format leading to the quarters, semifinals and then the mega final. Here's the schedule for the big games, which was confirmed to Sportskeeda by a senior official in the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI):
Quarterfinals:
January 3rd, 2018 at 18:00 IST onwards
Semi-Finals:
January 4th, 2018 at 20:00 IST onwards
Finals:
January 5th, 2018 at 20:00 IST onwards
The championships, which will see big names such as Pardeep Narwal, Manjeet Chhillar and Anup Kumar amongst others featuring for their respective states have been held with outstanding success in the past editions.
Since the contest paves way for clashes between some popular names in Indian Kabaddi, the championships would undoubtedly serve as a learning curve for youngsters as they look to make a mark in the domestic scenario.
What's next?
The Nationals are just a couple of weeks away and the practice sessions will be underway in preparation for the matches.
Author's take
Given that the squads will comprise of budding youngsters and experienced players from the national side or those who have made a mark in the Pro Kabaddi League, it will be exciting to see which side comes out on top.
