Dhaka set to host Women's Kabaddi World Cup in Nov

Bangladesh is all set to host the 2nd IKF Women's Kabaddi World Cup in mid-November with the participation of 14 countries including defending champions India, and runners-up Iran.

The Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation (BKF) made the announcement at a press conference at the BOA Auditorium today.

The Women's Kabaddi World Cup, which was last held in Bihar in 2012, will be held at Shaheed Suhrawardy Indoor Stadium in Mirpur from November 15 to 25.

Participating nations are Bangladesh, Argentina Chinese Taipei, Germany, Netherlands, Iran, India, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Nepal, Thailand, Uganda and Zanzibar while Pakistan and Poland have been kept as the standby teams.

International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) awarded the Women's World Cup, which was scheduled to take place in Hyderabad, India from August 3-13, to Bangladesh following BKF's successive completion of three international tournaments and India's failure to organise the tournament.

"With the support from IKF, Ministry of Youth and Sports and National Sports Council (NSC), BKF is going to stage the Women's World Cup from November 15-25 in a bid to give our national game more exposure in the world," BKF general secretary SM Newas Shohag told the reporters at the press conference today.

Of the estimated budget of Tk 10.44 crore, the youth and sports ministry will provide Tk 5 crore while the rest of the funds will be generated by sponsors. The IKF will provide 350 air tickets to participating nations who will travel to Bangladesh, informed Shohag.

Though the format of the tournament has not been decided yet, Bangladesh have set their sights on finishing in the top three.

Bangladesh finished fifth in the inaugural Women's Kabaddi World Cup some 13 years ago.

NSC's executive director Kazi Nazrul Islam and BKF vice president Brigadier General Motaher Hossain were also present on the occasion.