Jormal Periwal Memorial Senior Secondary School for the Blind are national kabaddi champs!

To the loud cheers of ‘JPM, JPM’, the team from Jormal Periwal Memorial Senior Secondary School for the Blind, outclassed rivals, Vocational Training Centre, to win the Kabaddi Championships title.

Event held as part of 6-day Usha Sports Championships for the Blind

JPM is one the top schools in India for the blind, that puts special emphasis on both sports and education.That showed in the kabaddi finals of the six-day Usha Sports Championships for the Blind that saw 540 sportspersons competing in powerlifting, judo and kabaddi. JPM beat VTC 104-26 to win the Kabaddi Championships title.

JPM students said that they trained on the mat for the last five months, which gave them the edge. VTC, on the other hand, trained for just a week on the surface. They mostly play on mud courts so they had little practice.

This was the first time that the event was being held on mats. Tram lines were made of taped rope so that the players could know the boundaries. This was also the first time that the teams were given shoes to play on mat. For those used to playing in the mud, this was a little hard to adjust.

Players were classified according to their level of disability

B-1 players are those who have no light perception in either eye or those who have light perception but are unable to recognise the shape of the hand over a distance or in any direction. B-2 consists of players with partial vision. B-1 players with some light perception were put in blindfolds. The teams were made up of seven B-1 and five B-2 players. The playing seven had to include four B-1 and three B-2.

The players are hoping for a Asian kabaddi tournament sometime in the near future. International There are lans to hold an Asian event that may see participation from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and other Asian teams.

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