Kabaddi competition officially began at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday, 21 September, with eight matches played across the men’s and women’s tournaments. India opened both title defences in style, with the men’s team defeating hosts Japan in the morning before the women’s side comfortably overcame Bangladesh later in the day.

Below are the Day 1 results, team previews and tournament information.

Asian Games 2026 Kabaddi: Tournament Overview

Kabaddi is being contested at Tokai Citizens Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture from 21 to 26 September 2026. The sport is appearing at its ninth consecutive Asian Games.

The men’s competition has featured at every edition since Beijing 1990, while the women’s event joined the programme at Guangzhou 2010.

The men’s tournament consists of ten teams divided into two groups of five, while the women’s event features eight teams split into two groups of four. Every team meets each opponent in its group once during the league phase, which runs from 21 to 24 September. The top two teams from each group progress to the semi-finals on 25 September.

There is no bronze-medal playoff, with both losing semi-finalists receiving bronze medals.

The women’s gold-medal match is scheduled for 26 September at 9:30 AM IST, followed by the men’s final at 2:30 PM IST.

Each day of the group stage is divided into two sessions:

• Morning: 6:00 AM – 10:30 AM IST
• Evening: 12:30 PM – 4:50 PM IST

Asian Games 2026 Kabaddi Groups

Men

Group A: India, Japan, Bangladesh, Republic of Korea, Chinese Taipei

Group B: Iran, Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia

Women

Group A: India, Iran, Japan, Bangladesh

Group B: Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal

Day 1 Results

Bangladesh were the busiest side on the opening day, with their men’s team playing twice—first against Republic of Korea before returning later to face Chinese Taipei.

Teams in Action on Day 1

India

India remain the most successful nation in Asian Games kabaddi history, collecting 11 gold medals from the 13 titles awarded across the men’s and women’s competitions.

The men’s team has captured eight of the nine available gold medals, with Jakarta 2018 the only edition they failed to win after finishing with bronze.

India’s women have claimed three gold medals and one silver.

Sunil Kumar captains the men’s squad, supported by vice-captain Pawan Sehrawat, while Balwan Singh returns as head coach after a ten-year absence.

The women’s team is led by Pushpa Rana, with Sonali Shingate serving as vice-captain and Neeta Dadwe guiding the side as head coach.

Only four members of India’s Hangzhou 2022 gold-medal-winning men’s team returned for Aichi-Nagoya: Arjun Deshwal, Sunil Kumar, Pawan Sehrawat and Aslam Inamdar. The remaining eight players are making their Asian Games debut, including Pro Kabaddi League Season 12 top raider Ayan Lohchab.

Japan

As tournament hosts, Japan began their men’s campaign against India.

Their best Asian Games finish came in Guangzhou 2010 when the men’s team secured bronze. The women’s side is drawn alongside India, Iran and Bangladesh in Group A and opened its tournament against Iran.

Japan have shown steady improvement through recent Asian Kabaddi Championship competitions and will hope home support helps them challenge for a semi-final place.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh possess a proud kabaddi tradition, having finished runners-up in the men’s event in 1990, 1994 and 2002.

Although they have not returned to the podium since then, they continue to field a disciplined and physical team.

Their men faced Republic of Korea in the morning before returning later in the day to meet Chinese Taipei, while the women’s side concluded Day 1 against India.

Iran

Iran remain the only country besides India to win Asian Games kabaddi gold medals.

Their historic double triumph came in Jakarta 2018, where the men’s team defeated India en route to the title, while the women edged India 27-24 in the final.

The Iranian women opened their campaign against hosts Japan, while the men’s team begin their schedule later in the tournament.

Republic of Korea

Republic of Korea have quietly become one of Asia’s strongest kabaddi nations.

After claiming bronze at Incheon 2014, they improved to silver in Jakarta 2018, losing only to Iran in the final.

Their tournament began against Bangladesh.

Chinese Taipei

Chinese Taipei enjoyed their best-ever Asian Games kabaddi campaign at Hangzhou 2022.

The men’s team earned bronze, while the women finished with silver after narrowly losing 26-25 to India in the final.

Their men’s side opened against Bangladesh.

Pakistan

Pakistan entered the Games having won bronze medals at each of the previous three editions.

Although they remain the second-most decorated nation in Asian Games kabaddi history after India, a gold medal has continued to elude them.

Their first assignment came against Malaysia.

Nepal

Nepal’s breakthrough arrived at Hangzhou 2022 when the women’s team secured bronze.

The men’s side opened Group B against Thailand in a fixture likely to prove significant in the race for the semi-finals.

Thailand

Thailand own three women’s Asian Games kabaddi medals, finishing runners-up in 2010 before earning bronze in both 2014 and 2018.

Their women faced Sri Lanka, while the men’s team took on Nepal.

Malaysia

Malaysia are still searching for their first Asian Games kabaddi medal.

Their campaign began with a difficult Group B encounter against Pakistan.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka also continue their pursuit of a first Asian Games kabaddi medal.

The women’s team opened their campaign against Thailand.

Match-by-Match Summary

Match 1 – Men

Bangladesh 39-35 Republic of Korea

The opening match featured two experienced teams from Group A. Korea arrived after consecutive medal-winning campaigns, while Bangladesh sought their first podium finish in many years. Bangladesh edged a closely contested encounter to make an encouraging start.

Match 2 – Men

Thailand 59-48 Nepal

Thailand opened Group B with an important victory over Nepal. Both teams are expected to compete for the second semi-final qualification place behind Iran, making the result particularly significant.

Match 3 – Women

Iran 63-20 Japan

Iran produced the biggest winning margin of the morning session, comfortably defeating the hosts to begin Group A with an impressive net points advantage.

Match 4 – Men

India 49-24 Japan

India began their title defence with a commanding victory over the hosts. Led by Sunil Kumar, the defending champions controlled proceedings despite fielding eight Asian Games debutants.

Match 5 – Men

Pakistan 65-22 Malaysia

Pakistan delivered one of the most dominant performances of the opening day, overwhelming Malaysia to launch their campaign with an emphatic victory.

Match 6 – Women

Thailand 40-28 Sri Lanka

Thailand strengthened their hopes of progressing from Group B by comfortably defeating Sri Lanka in a match both teams viewed as crucial.

Match 7 – Men

Bangladesh 48-47 Chinese Taipei

Playing for the second time on the opening day, Bangladesh held off the Hangzhou 2022 bronze medallists in a dramatic one-point victory despite concerns over fatigue.

Match 8 – Women

India 42-21 Bangladesh

India’s women completed a perfect opening day for the defending champions with a convincing win over Bangladesh. Under new captain Pushpa Rana, they began their pursuit of another continental title in dominant fashion.

Points Table After Day 1

Group standings are determined primarily by the number of wins, with net points—calculated from scoring margins across all group matches—used as the first tie-breaker.

Because each team plays only a limited number of group-stage matches, winning margins can become just as important as victories themselves. The emphatic wins recorded by India, Iran and Pakistan on the opening day could therefore prove valuable later in the race for the semi-final places.