Interview with Pro Kabaddi director Charu Sharma: "I always knew the huge potential that kabaddi had"
The 20th edition of the Lloyd Business Today Pro Am of Champions 2016, one of India’s most prestigious corporate golf tournaments, came to a close on Sunday. The tournament finale was held in Delhi after covering six other cities and at the lavish ITC Maurya Sheraton Hotel, the prize winners were felicitated by the organizers. It is one of the most keenly awaited annual golfing events in the country and features India’s top corporate decision makers and leading golfing professionals playing together.
Among the contestants in the amateur category was former sports commentator and compere Charu Sharma, who is currently the director of Mashal Sports, the company behind the highly successful Pro Kabaddi League. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Sharma spoke at length about the success of the Pro Kabaddi League and the Lloyd Business Today Pro Am of Champions tournament.
Talking about the golf tournament, Sharma lavished praise on the organizers for a job well done and said that he had a great time over the course of the two days. He stated that it was a great opportunity for amateur golfers to compete against each other and play with professional golfers, who add a complete new dimension to the competition.
He also reserved praise for the Classic Golf Course, where the golfing extravaganza was held. Designed by the legendary Jack Nicklaus, the course provides a wonderful playing experience and Sharma lauded it for its challenging nature and level of maintenance. He said, “It was great fun playing on such a wonderful golf course and along with the biggest names in the Indian professional circuit. The greens were tough to tackle and I personally relished the challenge.”
Sharma also spoke about the Pro Kabaddi League, stating that he knew about the potential of the sport from day one and with the right delivery, it could make a huge splash across the country. “I am delighted with the way that people have responded to the competition. I feel that it was important to help kabaddi shed its image of being a rural Indian sport and spread it across the country as well as the world, something I am glad to say that we have been able to do so far,” said Sharma.
When asked about the plans for Season 4 which begins on 25th June this year, he said, “What the response will be I cannot say right now. But what I can tell is that our focus will be on clean and proper management and execution of the tournament. We can promise that we will run the tournament professionally and put in our best efforts to make Season 4 even bigger and better!”