Car Nicobar, May 13: A Nicobarese wrestling Tournament was held in Community hall ground at Kinmai Village in Car Nicobar recently which was inaugurated by the Deputy Commissioner of Nicobar District, Shri P Jawahar in the presence of the Bishop of Car Nicobar.

In his inaugural address, the Deputy Commissioner informed that the Ministry of Rural Development has recently accorded approval to undertake playground development works under the MGNREGA scheme. He called upon all the Village Tribal Council members to make proposals for developing the playgrounds in their respective villages and thereby ensuring effective utilisation of funds available under the flagship programme of Government of India.

In this traditional wrestling game, a number of wrestlers participated from almost all the Tuhets of each village.  A large number of people from all the villages witnessed the matches and cheered the players of their respective Tuhet  and Villages.

The traditional game of wrestling is quite popular among the Nicobarese, in which before the bout begins, the wrestlers grip each other from behind with their hands and the grip is not to be slackened till the very end of the game.  The wrestler, using various parts of his body including his legs makes all attempts to thrust the opponent to the ground.  If a contestant's back touches the ground, he is declared as loser. Three to five rounds take place before the final verdict is given.