BDFI to prepare breakers for Asian Games, Paris Olympics

The BDFI, which held the inaugural National breaking championships in Mumbai in October, is keen to begin the year by holding the second edition in Delhi.

Winners getting honoured at the National Breaking Championship in Mumbai in October 2021.

Overcoming the odds posed by the Covid-19 virus, the Breakdance Federation of India (BDFI) is all set to resume its activities to prepare its breakers for the Asian Games this year and the Paris Olympics in 2024.

The BDFI, which held the inaugural National breaking championships in Mumbai in October, is keen to begin the year by holding the second edition of the National Championships in Delhi on April 24 and 25.

“It was originally planned in February. We had booked the venue but the third wave of Covid disrupted our plans,” BDFI secretary Biswajit Mohanty, who is running the federation office from his home town Bhubaneswar, told  Sportstar .

“After breaking got into the Olympics programme, the enthusiasm has increased worldwide. In India, we have around 1000 to 1500 breakers. We received around 170 entries online for our first National Championships. We took the help of Ukrainian 2017 World ‘Bboy’ champion Lussy Sky to prune it to 57 and had a physical event at the Andheri Sports Complex on October 30 and 31.

“We expect a better response this time. Holding it in Delhi will familiarise the new discipline to important sports administrators of the country. We are going to provide board and lodging, medal, prize money and training for free. Lussy Sky has agreed to come down for four days to train our breakers.”

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The BDFI officials understand that they are running against time to handle multiple tasks – spreading the organisation throughout the country, conducting competitions regularly to give adequate exposure to the breakers and appointing an expert coach.

“We had selected three ‘Bboys’ and three ‘Bgirls’ but our breakers could not participate in the Paris World Championships in December last due to Covid. Now they will compete in the World Games in the USA and the Asian Games this year. We want to see our breakers in Paris 2024 but they need to be guided by a good coach.

“Foreign coaches are not agreeing to come to India at this point. They are for online coaching. Also, their fees are very high. We hope the Government will support us and help the new discipline grow,” said Mohanty.