"I quit my job to train in India for 2 months"- England's Felix Li opens up on being a part of PKL, his kabaddi journey and more

Felix Li earned his maiden Pro Kabaddi League contract from Dabang Delhi KC at the previous auction. The cover defender became one of the two players from England to receive a PKL deal this season.

Li is still new to kabaddi, but he has been impressive as a cover defender in the junior levels. He is yet to make his Pro Kabaddi League debut. Dabang Delhi KC could use him in the final phase of the league round.

Sportskeeda caught up with Felix Li for an exclusive chat, where he talked about his kabaddi journey, playing in Bangladesh's Bangabandhu Cup, training at Anup Kumar's academy and much more. Here are the excerpts:

Excerpts from Felix Li's exclusive interview with Sportskeeda

Q. How did you get into the sport of kabaddi?

Felix Li: I was a fresher at a University, and there was a kabaddi club in my University. I tried it and I loved it and it was pretty much fun. One thing led to the next, I was University captain, and then I played for England and now I am here in the Pro Kabaddi League.

Q. You played in the Bangabandhu Cup recently. How was the experience?

Felix Li: For me, it was the first time that I was in a big tournament, I'd say. So, the aspects outside of kabaddi were like very new to me. Obviously, people in Bangladesh, like they really like kabaddi, whereas in England, kabaddi is a quite a small sport.

Bangabandhu Cup was probably the first time like I had to stay in a hotel and you know, with the other teams, free food and other stuff. I felt like a Superstar. Now, it's my first experience of how it feels to play like professionally or semi-professionally.

Q. How did it feel playing kabaddi in a nation with a bigger fan following of the sport in Bangladesh?

Felix Li: I thought it was weird for me. It was hyped up quite a lot, and Bangladesh obviously is really a good team, but once it started, I felt like I really can tackle him. In that game, I got a High 5. That was crazy, and then the next game, I didn't get any tackles (laughs). So, I think Bangladesh did their homework.

The first time I played I thought it would be like really fast, but I somehow managed to get some tackle points, which is really nice.

Q. You and Yuvraj Pandeya are cover defenders. How do you improve your partnership as cover defenders?

Felix Li: I think one of the big things I did is that I quit my job to train in India for two months because I wanted to try and learn the game. So, Yuvraj and I actually went to two kabaddi academies. We went to Anup Kumar's academy called Future Fighters and we went to Mohit Narwal's kabaddi academy as well.

We played kabaddi almost every day for two months. We are pretty good together.

Q. How do you overcome the communication barrier while interacting with coaches and teammates?

Felix Li: I don't speak Hindi, but Yuvraj does. So, Yuvraj is my translator in the team (laughs).

Q. What were the conversations with your friends and family after you got the big break in kabaddi?

Felix Li: My mum watched it once. Kabaddi is kind of hard to watch in the UK because we don't have Hotstar. I don't actually know how to guide my mom to watch, but yeah, people are hyped. It's something to aim for. Players in the UK will be motivated to work harder in kabaddi.

Q. Who has been your role model in kabaddi?

Felix Li: Sandeep Narwal. He is a very good defender.

Q. How does it feel being in a PKL team and probably playing against some big names of kabaddi?

Felix Li: For me, if you play against your heroes, if you put them on a pedestal, you will likely not do very well. I am in the mindset of trying to see them like normal people, like people on my level. As soon as you idolize someone, you will probably not make the tackle.