69th Senior National Kabaddi Championship: PKL stars Narwal, Sehrawat, Naveen attend opening ceremony

Dadri (Haryana), July 21: The wait is over as the 69th edition of the Senior national kabaddi championship - 2022 (men's) got underway at Charkhi Dadri, Haryana on Thursday July 21st. The tournament is set to be held from Thursday to Sunday (July 24).

The tournament, organized by Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI), will provide a perfect platform for all the kabaddi players to showcase their talent and attract the national selectors' attention.

The 69th Senior National Kabaddi Championship - 2022 (MENS) will also witness top stars from the VIVO Pro Kabaddi taking part in the competition. While the big VIVO Pro Kabaddi stars will look to continue their form, the other players in the domestic tournament will certainly look at catching the eye of the VIVO Pro Kabaddi franchises ahead of the next season of the league.

The tournament will witness a number of VIVO Pro Kabaddi stars such as Pardeep Narwal (Haryana), Pawan Sehrawat (Indian Railways), Naveen Kumar (Services) and Aslam Inamdar (Maharashtra) showcase their skills in the competition.

Speaking about the importance of the tournament, Pawan Sehrawat of Bengaluru Bulls, said, "The Men's Senior National Kabaddi Championship is a very important tournament for us as it's the competition where we have an opportunity to excel and stay in the minds of the VIVO Pro Kabaddi scouts. A good performance in the Senior Nationals can help players better their position in VIVO Pro Kabaddi which will help them to further propel their careers."

Meanwhile, Naveen Kumar from PKL team Dabang Delhi said, "I am really looking forward to the Nationals as it's one of the biggest competitions for us. I have been training very hard for it and I hope to enthrall the kabaddi fans. The VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 8 really helped us in training and getting back in action."

The Indian Railways will be entering the 69th Senior National Kabaddi Championship - 2022 (MENS) as the defending champions. They took down the Services team 44-23 in the Final of the last Men's Senior National Kabaddi Championship in 2021 held in Uttar Pradesh.

The tournament will witness 31 teams fight it out for the prestigious trophy.