6 from Kerala to raid for England in Kabaddi World Cup; Vypin native Athira named captain

Imagine rediscovering your passion for your favourite sport in a foreign land and getting a chance to represent that nation in a World Cup. A group of Malayalis are living their dream after being selected to represent hosts England in the Kabaddi World Cup this month.

Four women and two men from Kerala are part of the England team for the World Cup, which will be held in the West Midlands from March 17 to 23. Fellow Malayali Mathew Saju, a former England international, is the coach of the women's team.

"Never thought I could continue playing Kabaddi here in England," said Athira Sunil, England women's Kabaddi team captain. Neelima Unni Suma, Neeraja Unni Suma and Pressymol Preni are the other Malayalis in the England women's team. Mashood Koorattante and Abhijith Krishnan Thaivalappil are the Malayali members of the England men's team.

"All of them got selected from the British Kabaddi League (BKL)," said Saju, who co-owns the Nottingham Royals, a BKL franchise. Alappuzha native Saju was one of the first Malayalis to represent England in Kabaddi. Saju, who has been residing in England since 2010, has represented them since 2018 and was part of the squad that took part in the European Kabaddi Championships in Scotland in 2019.

Saju's passion for promoting Kabaddi after his playing days led him and fellow Malayali Raju George to form the Royals, which opened the path to English Kabaddi for the present generation of raiders from Kerala, including Athira, native of Nayarambalam in Vypin, Ernakulam.

Neelima Unni heard about the BKL through an Instagram promotional video and contacted the Royals. The native of Nedumangad in Thiruvananthapuram resides in Kent and was a member of the Royals side, which lifted the recent BKL title.

The other members of the team, Thiruvananthapuram native Neeraja, who has been a Kabaddi player since Class 7, and Kottayam, Ettumannur, native Pressymol, who has ten years experience in the sport, are glad to reach the heights they could not achieve in India. Neeraja resides in Coventry, while Pressymol is from Manchester.

Captain Athira said it wasn't an easy ride to become a member of the English side. "We were able to get in touch with a few people with Kabaddi experience scattered across the UK. We coordinated and got together for regular practice sessions and competed in BKL. There were many hardships because I reside in Newcastle and travelled several hours by bus for practice sessions. But we're grateful for this opportunity," Athira said.

North Kerala to West Midlands
Abhijith is a native of Cheruvathur in Kasaragod, Kerala's northernmost district. He began playing Kabaddi since Class 7 and was a regular in district and state level before migrating to England. Mashood, who hails from Ponnani in Malappuram district, has a similar career graph. He competed for Kerala at school level before playing for Calicut University. He reached England for higher studies and said was glad to be continuing his association with the sport he loves so much.

Besides England, 15 other nations, including India will participate in the World Cup. In the men's category, England are clubbed with Cameroon, Malaysia and Poland in Group A. In the women's category, Hong Kong China, Poland and Tanzania are England's Group A opponents. "We are glad to have avoided India in the group stages," said coach Saju with a smile. "But we could play the Indian team in the knockout stages, and it will be a great experience for everyone."