A glimpse into our games: Numerous team sports including desi kushti, tent pegging and stone lifting are practiced in the region

A glimpse into our games: Numerous team sports including desi kushti, tent pegging and stone lifting are practiced in the region

A glimpse into our games: Numerous team sports including desi kushti, tent pegging and stone lifting are practiced in the region
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Pakistan is a country where numerous games are played at national and international level alongside traditional sports. Desi kushti (mud wrestling), kabaddi, horse dance, partridge competition, goli pila, tent pegging, stone lifting, bull racing, pitthu garam, gulli danda, and veeni (wrist grabbing) are some of the popular traditional sports in the region.

The terms kushthi and phelvani are expressions derived from Persian words. Locally known as dangal, the competitions of mud wrestling are organised on Fridays. Different wrestlers participate in it and dance to the tune of drums after winning. Titles are awarded to the wrestlers who conquer home and aboard. Rustam-i-Zaman, Gamma Phelwan, Rustam-i-Hind, Ustad Raheem Bukhsh, Zubair Jhara, Nasir Bhola Bhala, Inam Phelwan, Bashir Phelwan and Umair Phelwan are a few acclaimed wrestlers.

The arena is popularly known as ‘akahra’ is made of mud around which onlookers assemble to support their favourite wrestlers. They reportedly give cash as a prize to the winner. Mud wrestling used to be organised at Vaisakhi, a festival marked after harvesting wheat in April every year.

Kabaddi is another famous traditional game played between two teams with seven players each. The game requires a raider of a team who is sent to the other team’s court. The raider loudly chants ‘kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi’ without taking a break.

He tries to tag one of the defenders with his hand or leg and runs back to his court to score. The defender has to chase the rider and stops him by wrestling him to the ground before he escapes without breaking his chant.

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Punjab Media Sports Board director Abdul Rauf Roofi told APP that kabaddi is believed to be played first by founder of Sikhism, Baba Guru Nanak. “Hence Sikhs consider it their religious game. Mostly, it is played in Indian as well as Pakistani Punjab.”

Pakistan has an international kabaddi team which won the world cup in 2020 held in Lahore, Faisalabad and Gujrat. It was the 6th world cup since 2010, he said. Irfan Mana, Shafiq Chishti, Lala Obaidullah Kambo, Ajmal Shahzad Dogar, and Saifullah Bhatti are celebrated players of the Pakistani team, the official said. “Pakistan had constituted a women’s kabaddi team led by Madeeha Latif. The team participated in the 2014-15 world cup.”

Partridge competitions are another interesting traditional sport, particularly in southern Punjab. Caged partridges are placed to chirp the whole day — the chirpiest bird wins the competition in the evening. People from far-flung areas of the region attend the event

Goli pila is a children’s game. The minors play with marbles or pebbles which have to be aimed at the holes in the ground. Instead of clubs, it is played with fingers which are used as a bow. It is played on dirt, getting all your hands and clothes dirty in the process.

Pitthu garam is known for its excitement — aiming, running, catching, hitting etc. The game is played by two teams and requires a ball and some stones that will be assembled to form a tower.

Team A piles up the stones and makes a tower. They then strike the pile with a ball at a distance of three to four metres. Team B has to catch the ball after it hits the pile without letting it bounce.

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If they are able to catch it, Team A loses its turn. But if they fail, Team A then tries to reassemble the stones, while Team B hits them with the ball. If they are able to dodge the balls and assemble the stones, they win.

Traditional Sports and Games Association (TSG) president Furqan Khan said that they were working hard to promote these games. He stated that he visited Uzbekistan in May this year with his team for an event. Former Punjab Sports Board director general Adnan Arshad Olukh stated that the board had organised Kabaddi World Cup in 2020 for the first time in the history of the country wherein nine international teams had participated.

Punjab Sports Minister Rai Taimoor Bhatti visited Turkey for promotion of desi kushti and kabaddi in the country and called on the Turkish president’s son Bilal Erdogan who is reportedly interested in traditional and Islamic archery in Pakistan.

Last but not the least, horse dance is also a well-liked traditional sport in the country. Horse keepers train the animals for this purpose. They dance to the tune of drums at festivals and other events.

Divisional sports officer Rana Nadeem Anjum said that though these are non-Olympic games, these are being played across the country. These are healthy activities and people should take out time to entertain themselves.—APP

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