Hosts India lifted the winner’s title in the men’s and women’s section of the second World Cup Kabaddi tournament held in Punjab after the games were marred by a series of embarrassing doping scandals.
Over 30 players have tested positive in doping tests in the 20-day tournament which ended Nov 20.
The entire Australian team and US team was suspended from the tournament by its technical committee after many of its players tested positive. Five Canadian and British players also tested positive for drugs.
Players from Norway, Italy, Argentina, Spain, Germany and India also tested positive.
A brainchild of Punjab’s Deputy Chief Minister and Sports Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, the tournament was highlighted as a showcase event of the Punjab government. However, it has been left embarrassed by a growing number of players testing positive for drug use, local media said.
The India men team easily beat the Canada side 59-25 in the final match played at the Guru Nanak Dev stadium last Sunday. India was the winner of the inaugural edition of the World Cup Kabaddi last year also.
The winners were given a cheque of Rs.2 crore while runners-up Canada got a prize money of Rs.1 crore. The total prize money in the tournament was Rs.4.11 crore for the 14 men’s and four women’s participating teams.
Neighbouring Pakistan, which was the runners-up in the first edition of the Kabaddi tournament last year and was expected to reach the finals this time also, finished third in the tournament. They beat Italy 60-22 in the match to decide the third position played Sunday.
The closing ceremony of the 20-day event was a glittering affair with several performances and fireworks display.
Actors Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone took to the stage to enthrall the audience.
Akshay Kumar drove into the stadium and the stage on a superbike. He later took a round of the stadium on a convertible Mercedes with Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.
The event, held in the northern Indian state of Punjab,  brought 14 teams together from across the world to play the popular and highly physical South Asian game, which mixes tag with wrestling. The “World Cup” —is not officially recognised as there is no international governing body for the sport.
Kabaddi involves an individual player raiding the opposition team’s territory while chanting “kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi” until he runs out of breath.
His opponents, who generally hold hands, try to snare him and stop him from returning to his home base.