Asian Kabaddi Championship 2025: How the Supreme Court, just 20 days of training and the fire to dominate led India to gold

International kabaddi tournaments are few and far between but when the time comes, India finds a way to step up and dominate. This was the story of the Asian Kabaddi Championship held in Tehran last week. India defended its gold medal at a canter, breaking a sweat only against old foe Iran in an eventual 32-25 win in the summit clash.

While there was no telecast of the tournament, images of the mat surrounded by large black boards and the Indian players wearing a saffron hijab during a ceremonial proceeding went viral.

“The experience was quite nice,” Sonali Shingate, the captain of the side, told Sportstar.

“There is a local culture and tradition there that all teams were very respectful towards. However, we had no restrictions while actually playing our games. We were in our regular kits.”

The Asian Championship returned after an eight-year gap, with India winning the last edition in Gorgan, Iran, beating Korea in the final. Little has changed with the Women in Blue remaining the dominant force in the sport, now winning five of the six editions till date.

ALSO READ | Pro Kabaddi League – A decade of deliverance, but what’s next?

The tournament this time was without the attendance of strong sides like Asian Games runner-up Chinese Taipei, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

“Most of our matches, barring the Iran game, were fairly one-sided. We are just that strong,” Sonali explained. “Some of the participating teams might have brought a second-string team to save top talent for the World Cup in June which will be held in Rajgir in Bihar.”

The final itself seesawed more than India would have liked in the first half, but the side found a way to prevail.

“Raiders on both sides began well and kept getting points for their respective sides. In between, a defensive error from our side forced us to concede an all out which saw us give up a lead. We then recovered with a few bonus and touchpoints and avoided an all out while inflicting one on them. We then got ahead by eight points and managed to maintain it till the end. Iran is usually the team that gives us a run for our money and this time was no different.”

Bureaucratic issues

The Indian side might not have made it to Tehran with the International Kabaddi Federation barring India from international participation due to issues with the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI). A court-appointed administrator had been running the body for the past five years.

On February 6, the Supreme Court directed former Delhi High Court Judge, Justice S.P. Garg to hand over the charge of the federation to the governing body which won elections to the body in December 2023. The court also directed the Sports Ministry to help the body select and train the team that was to participate in the tournament.

The squad trained at the Sports Authority of India campus in Sonepat for 20 days before heading to Tehran to defend their Asian title.

Making up for lost time

For captain Sonali, the desperation to play this tournament was two-fold. She missed the 2023 Asian Games due to an ACL tear in the right knee which kept her out of action for a year.

“Our game is a contact game and so injuries are normal and these things make us strong mentally and physically. When I got injured ahead of the 2023 Asian Games, everyone was gutted for me,” Sonali explained.

India captain Sonali Shingate arrives in New Delhi with the Asian Kabaddi Championship 2025 title.
| Photo Credit:
SAI Media

“I told everyone to give me a year to recover and that I would be back. Our last international tournament was 2019. So I was waiting desperately to compete in the Asian Games. So to not play was heartbreaking. What’s written in your destiny will happen and I was destined for this.”

Women playing kabaddi in India have only the Senior Nationals and National Games to look forward to, unlike the men who now have a three-month Pro Kabaddi League which has been hugely successful over the past decade.

V. Tejeswini Bai, the coach of the Indian team and an Arjuna awardee, believes it’s time for a similar tournament for women.

“Pre-2014, kabaddi was of course popular among loyalists but not outside of that. The league changed the perception of the sport and has changed the profile of the players too. There’s money in the sport now and talent too has become so professionally good. The girls deserve that, that exposure, that kind of incentive and platform,” she said.

The victorious side arrived in India on March 11 and was felicitated by the Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya with a cash prize of Rs. 67,50,000.