Asian Games 2023: India's Kabaddi contingent and notable records
The 19th Asian Games will run between September 23 and October 8 in Hangzhou, the People's Republic of China. The Indian men's and women's Kabaddi sides will be in action between October 2 and October 7. Notably, the women's Kabaddi event was introduced in 2010. India have as many as nine gold medals in Kabaddi at the Asian Games (men's and women's combined).
Indian men's kabaddi team for Asian Games
Indian men's kabaddi team for Asian Games: Nitesh Kumar, Parvesh Bhainswal, Sachin, Surjeet Singh, Vishal Bhardwaj, Arjun Deshwal, Aslam Inamdar, Naveen Kumar, Pawan Sehrawat, Sunil Kumar, Nitin Rawal, Akash Shinde.
Indian women's kabaddi team for Asian Games
Indian women's kabaddi team for Asian Games: Akshima, Jyoti, Pooja, Pooja, Priyanka, Pushpa, Sakshi Kumari, Ritu Negi, Nidhi Sharma, Sushma Sharma, Snehal Pradeep Shinde, Sonali Vishnu Shingat.
A look at the schedule
The Indian men's and women's Kabaddi sides will compete between October 2 and 7. As many as 11 teams are participating in the men's category, while the women's category will witness nine teams.
Here are the two groups (men and women)
Group A (Men): India, South Korea, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. Group B (Men): Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and Nepal. Group A (Women): India, Thailand, Japan, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. Group B (Women): Chinese Taipei, Iran, South Korea, and Bangladesh.
Indian men's side owns seven gold medals
Kabaddi was introduced at the Asian Games in 1990 only in the men's category. As of now, the men's side has won seven gold medals. India were unbeaten until the 2018 edition wherein Iran and South Korea qualified for the gold medal clash. Iran handed India their first-ever Asian Games defeat in that edition. Notably, Pakistan and India won the bronze medal.
India won gold at 2023 Asian Kabaddi Championship
In August this year, India won the Asian Kabaddi Championship title after beating Iran in the final. Team India was unbeaten throughout the tournament, having won all five league matches. India defeated Iran 42-32 in the final, thereby claiming their eighth Asian Championships title. Notably, the Indian men's side won gold in each of the nine Asian Kabaddi Championship editions.
Indian women's side owns two gold medals
India won the gold medal in the 2010 edition wherein Kabaddi was introduced for women. They beat Thailand, while Bangladesh and Iran won the bronze medal. In 2014, India beat Iran in the championship clash. However, Iran avenged the defeat to win gold in 2018.
