A Bradford initiative to encourage more Asian people to play rugby has had international success.

A civic reception was held last night at City Hall to honour Bradford members of the British Asian Rugby Association (BARA) on their return from winning a tournament in India.

They beat the Indian Army, the Mumbai State Police and 12 other teams to win the All-India South Asian Championship.

Twenty-two players from BARA - including five from Bradford - flew to Mumbai for the event, organised by Ikram Butt, community sports development officer for Bradford Council's sports and leisure service, and Jugdeep Johal, who grew up in Bradford but plays rugby for Scunthorpe. Other players with Bradford links included Clayton men Rashid Mahmood, 30, and Amraiz Ahmed, 21, Manni Riaz, 23, from Allerton, and Junaid Malik, 28, who plays for Elland and is a trainee solicitor at Sekhon Firth in Bradford city centre.

Mr Butt, a former international rugby professional and director of BARA, said: "It was a tremendous feeling to go out there and win but the most important thing was to build friendships. We are looking forward to going back to defend the title."

Mr Butt said: "Bradford Council's sport and leisure service has been very supportive in allowing us to develop the initiative. Rugby is a game in which the whole family can take part. The ethos of teamwork, self-esteem and character-building makes it a great sport."

The event was a follow-up to a visit by the stars of the India national team in 2003. Mr Butt said: "We wanted to build closer links between British Asians and Indians. We hope to create positive role models young children can aspire to. They may not want to become rugby players but it will show them they can achieve what they want.

"BARA was set up to address the lack of Asian rugby players but it has representation from all different backgrounds and is about learning about each other's backgrounds as well as playing rugby."

The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Valerie Binney, said: "Winning such a prestigious tournament is a tremendous achievement and everyone involved deserves to have their success recognised."

Leeds Metropolitan University sponsored the team kit.