The Germany women's national kabaddi team are participating in the Women's Kabaddi World Cup for the first time. The tournament is taking place from November 17 to 24 at the Shaheed Suhrawardy Indoor Stadium in Mirpur.

The European side have suffered defeats in all of their group matches, but the players, captain, and officials are radiating positivity, viewing the tournament as a valuable learning experience rather than a pressure cooker.

Despite the losses, smiles remain on the players' faces. Participating in their first-ever international tournament, the German players are gaining new experience and enjoying the game, which is clear from the words of Emma Luise Ettle, one of the team's key players.

A professional Kabaddi team usually consists of 14 members, but Germany arrived with nine players. Many of their players are amateurs, balancing the sport with their careers as doctors, students, and employees. The players are focused simply on the "enjoyment of Kabaddi." Due to the rescheduled dates of the World Cup fixture, Germany couldn't bring their full team to Dhaka; some of their players withdrew at the eleventh hour.

Another interesting factor is that their women's team were formed less than a year ago. The sport is still at an amateur level there, the players practiced only in Stuttgart and Nuremberg. There are a total of only 30 to 40 female players. The players mainly practice Kabaddi together on weekends. Some members of the team also play other sports, notably boxing, rugby, and football. It is also known that their team's current coach is an Indian national.

Emma Attle, a Sports Management student from the University of Stuttgart, highlighted the team's objective after a match.
"This is the first time we have come to the World Cup, and it's our first time in any competitive tournament," she said. "It hasn't been a year since we started learning Kabaddi. We are learning a lot here—you could say, even the rules of the game. We are here to enjoy Kabaddi," she added.

Emma and Co. already knew it would be difficult for Germany to win matches in Dhaka; that's why everyone is thoroughly enjoying the entire tournament.

Kabaddi is not their livelihood; they play purely out of passion. However, they dream that perhaps in a few years, Pro Kabaddi will start in Germany, bringing professionalisation to the sport.

"We only started recently. Right now, there are 30-40 players. The game is only popular in two cities. In the future, perhaps Kabaddi will be practiced all over Germany. We too will one day be able to organise Pro Kabaddi in our country. Our girls will play. We will all become professionals," she further said.

Furthermore, the German players expressed immense satisfaction with the warm Bangladeshi hospitality and plan to use their enriching World Cup experience to popularise the sport upon their return.