Pro Kabbadi 2017: Gujarat Fortune Giants targeting title in maiden outing, says captain Sukesh Hegde

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Fortune Giants have geared up for the fifth season of the Pro Kabaddi League, which commences later in July. Edible oil major Adani Wilmar on Wednesday formally launched the team and unveiled the jersey at an event in presence of wrestler Geeta Phogat and team’s skipper Sukesh Hegde. [caption id=“attachment_3805875” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image courtesy-Twitter: @geeta_phogat[/caption] Gujarat Fortune Giants is one of the four new teams. “We are working hard and are confident to lift the title. Ours is a young team and two Iranian players provide strong defence to our side. Although young, we will show that the team has mettle. We aim to win each game,” said Hegde. Coaches Manpreet Singh and Neel Gulia said the team is going through backbreaking routine and are giving eight hours of training every day. “We are the only team to have an international physiotherapist, who is the best. Players are going through an eight-hour session everyday starting at six in the morning. We are confident of lifting the title,” Singh said. The new team has three internationals. Iranian players Fazel Atrachali and Abozar Mohajermighani are expected to provide formidable defence. Adani Wilmar MD Pranav Adani said he bought the team for the love of the sports and with the aim to promote kabaddi in Gujarat. “Being among country’s top ten companies, our headquarters remains in Gujarat. Entrepreneurship is in our blood, but we also need to promote sports. There are several sports in the country that are not getting their rightful importance, and kabaddi is one of those,” Adani said. He, however, refused to divulge the investment he made for the team, but said that the company will own the team for another seventeen years. Phogat said she was happy to see that games other than cricket are getting their due attention. “I am happy to see that kabaddi is being approached in a very professional manner. The players is getting both proper infrastructure and training to succeed,” she added.