Start holding your breath: Asian Games kabaddi begins Monday

Fan favorite kabaddi — a high-speed, very physical game of tag where athletes hold their breath and keep chanting "kabaddi" — starts tomorrow. Korea pulled off a big upset in 2018 and are looking to do it again this year.

Korea, in white, competes against Iran in the men’s kabaddi final at the 2018 Asian Games. [YONHAP]

There are some sports at the Asian Games that are dominated by the same country every year. Typically this happens because a sport originates from a certain area — China is likely to win at wushu, Korea at taekwondo and Thailand at sepaktakraw.

In contact sport kabaddi, India nearly always comes out on top.

But at the 18th Asian Games, an unfamiliar country barged its way into the final on Aug. 24, 2018. Just 11 years after the Korea Kabaddi Association was first established, the Korean men’s team won silver in a shock final that, for the first time in Asian Games history, did not include India.

Though the team lost 15-26 to defending champion Iran in the final, a silver medal was the team’s best-ever finish. Not only that, Korea defeated seven-time Asian Games gold medalists India 24-23 in the group stages and faced down Pakistan, a team that has never not been in the final four, in the semifinal.

Kabaddi is a traditional contact sport originating from India. The aim of the game is for a “raider” to get to the opposing side of the court and tag out as many defenders as possible and then return to his side. However, the raider has to do so without getting tackled and while constantly repeating “kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi” so as not to draw a single breath.

On a 12.5-meter by 6.25-meter (41-foot by 20-foot) court, points are scored for each player tagged by the raider while the opposing team can earn points by stopping the raider.

Korea started to appear as an unexpected contender on the kabaddi court in 2014, taking bronze at the Incheon Asian Games. Despite Korea’s rise, beating India in the group stages came as such a huge shock that it sent ripples through the kabaddi world. In kabaddi circles, the upset was even more impressive than the Korean football team defeating top-ranked Germany at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

With the 19th Asian Games now well underway in Hangzhou, China, the question is: Can Korea do it all over again?

Both the men’s and women’s kabaddi tournaments at the Hangzhou Games begin Monday. The Korean men’s team will first face Malaysia in their opening game, with the women’s team taking on Thailand later on the same day.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]