Nov 29 - Factbox on Kabaddi, one of the 39 sports in the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, from December 1 to 15:

WHAT IS KABADDI?

- An esoteric team sport played mainly in Asia, Kabaddi is played on a field divided into two halves with seven-player sides taking turns raiding each other's side of the court.

- Points are scored either by a raider touching an opposing player and safely returning to his side, or by an opposing team capturing a raider and preventing him from returning to his side.

- The game requires skill and power and combines the characteristics of wrestling and rugby, even if it looks to the untrained eye like an aggressive version of playground tag.

HISTORY

- Kabaddi is believed to date back 4,000 years and has its roots in the South Asian countryside because it does not require expensive equipment. It was developed to sharpen self-defence and the reflexes of counter-attack by individuals and groups or teams.

- Kabaddi was first included as a competitive sport at the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990.

- The sport is popular in Bangladesh, India, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

- India has dominated the sport, winning gold at the Asian Games in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002.

RULES AND SCORING

- Each team consists of 12 players, of whom seven are on court at once and five are in reserve. The teams alternate in attack and defence. The playing area is 12.50m by 10m, divided by a line into two halves.

- Raiders are not allowed to take a breath in the opponents' court and have to constantly chant a word, such as "Kabaddi." Defenders touched by raiders are declared out and sent off the field if they do not catch raiders before they return to their own court. Raiders who cannot return to their court are declared out.

- A player can also get out by going over a boundary line, except when raiders are attempting to get back to home court after touching a defender or when defenders are trying to pin down raiders.

- Each time a player is out the opposing team earn a point. A team scores a bonus of two points if the entire opposing team are declared out.

- The team with the most points at the end of two 20-minute halves wins.