MUMBAI: As many as 218 million viewers tuned into the Star Sports Pro-Kabaddi Leagues’ opening game. The rustic, ancient and Indian contact sport game has finally found its due respect from Indian audiences and after a month of entertaining Indian audiences in a never seen before avatar, the finals are here.

The Leagues’ two giants; U –Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers will clash in the finals that will take place at the National Sports Club of India in Mumbai on 31 August at 7:45 pm. Ironically, it was these two teams that had kicked off the tournament wherein the Ronnie Screwvala owned U-Mumba team won over the Abhishek Bachchan owned Jaipur franchise at the very same stadium.

Hoarding around the city and posts on social media have been announcing the big finale. The broadcast of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi is on Star Sports 2, Star Gold and starsports.com.

In its glory days, the sport enjoyed a rich heritage where it was practiced during festivals and after harvest as a matter of celebration. Star’s endeavour to restore that festive air around Kabaddi and set it in today's context with world-class production, modern indoor stadiums, mat surface courts, jazzy music along with celebrity engagement to make it more appealing to the youth seems to have truly worked its charm.