The British Kabaddi League (BKL) is a professional kabaddi league that occurs annually in Britain, with the first edition occurring in 2022. The league is hosted by the English Kabaddi Association and Scottish Kabaddi Association.[1]
The BKL was started to encourage kabaddi across the United Kingdom and among the South Asian community; it follows in the wake of other initiatives to promote kabaddi in Britain, such as the showing of kabaddi on Channel 4 in the 1990s.[2] It was also started to capitalise on the tourism boost caused by the 2022 Commonwealth Games.[1][3][4] There are plans to expand the number of teams in the league and start a women's edition.[5]
The competition takes place over four weekends, with each weekend's competition taking place in a different city.[6][7]
There are ten teams in the league, up from eight in the 2022 edition: Birmingham Bulls, Wolverhampton Wolfpack, Walsall Hunters, Leicester Warriors, Edinburgh Eagles, Glasgow Unicorns, Harrow Heroes, Luton Bengal Tigers, Nottingham Royals and Manchester Raiders.[8][9]
In the 2022 season, the following playoff results occurred:[10][11]
Semi-final 1: Birmingham Bulls beat the Manchester Raiders 44-33
Semi-final 2: Glasgow Unicorns beat the London Lions 33-31
Third-place playoff: Manchester Raiders beat the London Lions 52-51
British Kabaddi League Final: Birmingham Bulls beat the Glasgow Unicorns 48-18