The traditional Indian sport, Kabaddi, is fast gaining popularity and has become a global sports discipline. Players from Maharashtra have played a very significant role in the progress and development of the sport since 1960.
MSKA Life-President Sharad Pawar presents former Maharashtra kabaddi player Vasant Ramchandra Dhavan of Mumbai the ‘Kabaddi Mahayoddha’ Gratitude Award
To celebrate the success of the sport and also acknowledge the contribution of Kabaddi Maharshi Late Shankarrao (Buwa) Salvi and 99 Shiv Chhatrapati Award winners, Maharashtra State Kabaddi Association (MSKA) decide to release a memoir – ‘Kabaddi che 100 Mahayoddhe’ – and also launch the ‘Kabaddi Mahayoddha’ Gratitude Award for those unsung heroes of the sport, who did not get the deserved recognition.
MSKA Life-President, Sharad Pawar, released the book ‘Kabaddi che 100 Mahayoddhe’ – a memoir celebrating the journey of India’s traditional sport at a function at the MCA Club, BKC.
The former Maharashtra CM, also honoured the two ‘unsung heroes’, Vasant Ramchandra Dhavan of Mumbai and Shubhangi Date-Joglekar of Pune, both who became the first recipients of the award.
Member of Parliament Sunil Tatkare, who is also the Vice-President, MSKA, along with Hon. Sports minister of Maharashtra Sunil Kedar, minister of Sports (state) Aditi Tatkare, Member of Parliament Gajanan Kirtikar, chairman of MSKA and Bhai Jagtap, VP MSKA & President Mumbai Kabaddi Association, Kabaddi administrators & officials, and over 90 past and present kabaddi players from Maharashtra were present on the occasion.
The book conceptualised by Arjun Awardees Shantaram Jadhav and Raju Bhavsar takes a look at the journey of the 99 Shiv Chhatrapati awardees, 8 of whom were also conferred with the prestigious Arjuna Award.
Explaining the rationale behind launching the ‘Kabaddi Mahayoddha’ Award, Tatkare said, “Kabaddi is a team sport and in every team sport there are some star performers who get all the accolades and rewards. But none of them can achieve that height without the contribution and sacrifice of their teammates who work equally hard.
“These ‘unsung heroes’ mostly go unrecognised and hence we thought that we should show them the gratitude by felicitating two such players – one male and one female – every year. And there could be no better occasion than the launch of the book celebrating the journey of the sport,” said Tatkare, who is also the Member of Parliament from Raigad.