The Indian women's Kabaddi team for the 2019 South Asian Games was announced on Tuesday by the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI). The 12-member team will compete at the 13th edition of the SAG in a bid to clinch their fourth straight gold medal.
Haryana player Priyanka has been named the captain of the team while Deepika Henry Joseph is named the vice captain. Here is the full list:
- Priyanka (Captain)
- Deepika Henry Joseph (Vice-captain)
- Ritu Kumari
- Nisha
- Pushpa
- Sakshi Kumari
- Payel Chowdhury
- Ritu Negi
- Sonali Vishnu Shingate
- Snehal Pradeep Shinde
- Mamta Kumari Dhaka
- Harwinder Kaur
The team features senior players like Payal Chowdhary, Ritu Negi, and Sakshi Kumar who were a part of the women's team at the 2018 Asian Games. With the experienced players, the team also features a lot of youngsters, making the Indian women's team quite stable.
The team will be coached by Padma Shri awardee Sunil Dabas and Banani Saha. Shailaja Jain, the former coach of the Iranian women's kabaddi team will be the team manager.
Women's Kabaddi was featured at the South Asian Games for the first time in 2006. Since then, the event has been played in all the three editions (2006, 2010 and 2016), with the Indian team emerging as the champions every time. The newly announced team will be on a quest for the record fourth gold medal.
The South Asian Games 2019 will be held in Nepal from 1st to 10th December. The schedule for the Kabaddi event will be announced soon.
