CHENNAI: “Our ultimate aim is to make Kannagi Nagar a brand,” Kabbadi player R Karthika told DT Next a year ago, referring to the negative perceptions about her neighbourhood and how she and her teammates want to change that through their winning ways in Kabaddi. She was not part of the national set-up then, yet she exuded confidence.

A year on, Karthika has walked the talk—and how! The Class 12 student of Kannagi Nagar government school was the vice-captain of the Indian girls (U-18) team that remained unbeaten throughout the tournament and beat Iran 75-21 in the final to bag the gold at the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain on Thursday.

At the Isa Sports City arena in Riffa, Bahrain, Indian and Tamil Nadu Kabaddi fans turned up in sizeable numbers to cheer the team.

“Some turned up with b

See Full Page