CHENNAI: Yuva Kabaddi find and Pro Kabaddi League recruits S Satish Kannan and R Sakthivel came to the party when it mattered the most for VELS University as they helped the team clinch the inaugural Velammal Yuva Kabaddi Series Tamil Nadu Clubs 2024 edition title with a thumping 49-19 win over Karpagam University at the Velammal Bodhi Campus, Ponneri, on Thursday.
The Yuva Kabaddi Series, a premier all-year-round tournament that is known for hand-picking aspiring young kabaddi players and moulding them into future stars since its inception in 2022 witnessed Satish grow in stature as he represented Tamil Thalaivas in PKL, scored a total of 12 crucial raid points in 14 attempts while Sakthivel, who had turned out for Bengal Warriors, grabbed eight tackle points against Karpagam, who had come into the final with a 1-1 Head-to Head record against the eventual champions.
The championships witnessed a total of 16 teams, comprising over 320 players, facing off in a custom-made tournament format that witnessed a total of 121 matches played in three stages, living up to the campaign, ‘Josh, Jazba, Jonoon’.
The winning team took home a prize purse of Rs 20 lakh while the runners-up will be richer by Rs 10 lakh.
KR Sports Ganganath Krishnan tops the best raiders chart with a total of 161 raid points and was awarded a prize money of Rs 50,000 while Sakthivel Thangavelu of Karpagam University earned similar prize money for being adjudged the best defender with 58 tackle points.
Tamil Nadu has been one of the hotbeds of Kabaddi in the country and the competitive nature of the matches through-out the initial rounds till the final only underlined the passion for the sport across the state as it was broadcasted live on FanCode and 5 Tamil Nadu TV Channels YN, 7 Star, Annai TV, Gem TV and SK TV and reached over 12 million households.
