Kabaddi: Balwan Singh and Ashan K included in India's coaching panel

The Indian Kabaddi team's legendary coach Balwan Singh will return as one of the three coaches on the coaches panel for the Indian men's kabaddi teams. He will be in charge of kabaddi teams of various age groups. Under Balwan Singh's coaching, the Indian team has won multiple international tournaments. Ashan Kumar and Jaivir Sharma are also on the panel with Balwan Singh. 

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Under Singh, India has won the gold medal for the Asian Games in 2010 and 2014. The Indian team also won the Kabaddi World Cup 2016. Ashan Kumar had previously led the South Korean team to their silver medal at the Asian Games 2018. Kumar is also a former Asian Games gold medalist. Jaivir Sharma, the third coach, coaches at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Ahmedabad.

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Dronacharya award-winning coach Sunil Dabas and former Iranian women's team coach Shailja Jain are on the panel for the women's kabaddi team coaches. Shailja Jain had led the Iranian women's kabaddi team to their gold medal in 2018 at Jakarta. Banani Saha, the assistant coach for the Indian kabaddi team for the Asian Games 2018 will also be a part of the panel. The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) announced the final list of the kabaddi coaches panel members on Thursday, October 24. They examined more than 29 candidates – 20 for men and nine for women – as they wanted coaches for the men's and women's kabaddi teams of various age groups. The federation had advertised for the same. 

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Kabaddi: What's next?

After the Asian Games, there has been a lack of international kabaddi events. The first-ever U-20 Kabaddi World Cup is to be held at Iran in November. The senior World Cup is expected to be conducted in 2020's first half. India will be hoping to defend their World Cup title, especially after their last year's loss the Asian Games. 

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