Pakistan's queens: Who says women can't play kabaddi?
Sana held on tightly to the edge of the railing as she leaned forward, bellowing advice at her team.
Her instructions drowned in the cheers and applause from an engrossed audience gathered at the Wapda Sports Complex. They were there to watch the country’s first ever National Women’s Kabaddi (Asian style) Championship which had kicked off last month.
The anti-raiders sidestepped back and forth on the mat in perfect synchronisation daring the lone raider to tag them. Within 15 seconds a spritely raider stepped over the midline, the Baulk line, and tagged a member of the opposition.
The seven-member defensive unit swiftly moved in for the tackle, surrounding the raider. Sana gasped, her knuckles now white from gripping the railing, as she watched the raider duck neatly, leap over the Baulk line and fight off a back hold to reach the court safely.
Sana let out a whoop of joy and turned around to explain that her team, representing Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), was one of the underdogs at the championship. “They only started playing two months ago and now they’re facing one of the most formidable teams in the country!”
“Women of the soil can accomplish anything and everything they apply their energies to.” — commentator Tayyab Gillani
The traditional tag-wrestling game requires players to master breath control, raid and dodging, strength to tackle and hold a raider. The sport is indigenous to the region and Pakistan has produced some of the most celebrated kabaddi players in the world. However, historically the hallowed akharas and kabaddi training centres have been the sole domain of men.
Prowess at the sport traditionally has been synonymous with masculine pride, celebrated in pop culture and literature for its undertones of Punjabi machismo.