Tejaswini Bai appointed as head coach of Indian Women's Kabaddi team

What’s the story?

An established champion in the sport of Kabaddi, Tejaswini Bai is all set to take up a new role as the head coach of the Indian national team, Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) confirmed to Sportskeeda.

In case you did not know...

After living and breathing kabaddi on the court for the past 17 years, Tejaswini is heralded as one of the iconic athletes in the circuit. The 31-year-old is an all-rounder known for scoring bonus points.

She found her interest in the sport at a young age when she was just in the eighth standard. Tejaswini stumbled upon a match in her hometown and since then there was no looking back. She was also blessed with the imperative support of her father that let Tejaswini reach the epitome of success.

The heart of the matter

Bai, who became captain of Indian Kabaddi Team in 2010 is one of the most successful athletes in the game. She led the national team to a gold medal in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou and repeated the success with Mamtha Poojari at the Games in Incheon, South Korea, in 2014.

In the domestic circuit as well, Bai is a popular figure. She donned the Railways outfit for 15 years and competed in the last Nationals in December 2017 where Railways came second best to Himachal Pradesh in the final. Earlier, during her three years stint with the Karnataka team, she helped her state win the bronze.

With a plethora of accolades and umpteen experience under her belt, Tejaswini surely fits the bill to helm the Indian national kabaddi team.

What’s next?

Tejaswini will have her task cut out in her debut season with the Asian Games challenge coming up in August.

She will be shouldering immense hopes as it will be a tough challenge for the two time defending champions to retain the gold. While Tejaswini was part of the team both time that won the gold, it will be intriguing to see how things pan out with the 31-year-old on the other side of the mat.

Author’s take

Tejaswini has been a proven champion in Kabaddi. She has mastered the tricks and traits of the trade over the course of her illustrious career. Her imperative inputs will come extremely beneficial to the Indian team as they aim to do an encore of Tejaswini’s heroics.