Kabaddi is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. The goal of the game is for a single offensive player, called the "raider," to enter the opposing team's half of the court, tag as many players as possible, and return to their own side within 30 seconds, all while avoiding being tackled by the defenders. Points are scored for each player tagged by the raider, while the opposing team earns a point for stopping the raider. Players are taken out of the game if they are touched or tackled, but return to the game after each point scored by their team from a tag or tackle.
Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a few sports created exclusively for women and girls and remains primarily played by them, on indoor and outdoor courts, especially in schools, and most popularly in the Commonwealth of Nations.
The Asia Cup officially known as Men's Asia Cup, is the biennial Cricket tournament organised by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). The competition is contested by Asian members' senior men's national cricket teams, determining the continental champion of Asia. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries being the only continental championship in cricket where the winning team becomes the champion of Asia. India are the defending champions after winning the 2023 edition.
The Sri Lanka national rugby union team, known as the Tuskers, represents Sri Lanka in men's international rugby union. The team has yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup. They have the longest tradition of organised club rugby in Asia, dating back to 1879, which was just 8 years after the founding of the world's first rugby union in England. They regularly compete in the Asian Five Nations tournament and are currently in Division I. In the 2010 tournament, they made it to the finals beating Chinese Taipei 37 to 7.
The first World Youth Scrabble Championships were held in Wollongong, Australia 2006. Competitors from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, England, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and United States have competed in the annual tournament so far. WYSC is open to anyone under the age of 18 on 1 January of the year of each tournament. The tournament used to be held at the start of December but was brought forward to August for 2014. So far the WYSC tournament has been held in Malaysia five times, Australia twice, Dubai twice and the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom once each.
Australian rules football in Asia dates back to 1910 but was only sporadically played until the 1980s after which it has boomed. Clubs have begun in most Asian countries and a governing body for the region, AFL Asia was formed in 2008 to coordinate the Asian Championship and promote its affiliated leagues. AFL Asia estimates that there are now more than 10,000 Australian Football players across the continent.
Association football and basketball are the most popular sports in Asia. Cricket is the third most popular sport in Asia, and is most popular in South Asia. Other popular sports in Asia include baseball, badminton and table tennis among others. There are also some traditional sports that are popular in certain regions of Asia, such as the South Asian sports kabaddi and kho-kho, and sepak takraw in Southeast Asia. Top sporting nations/regions in Asia include China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The Sri Lanka national netball team is the national netball team of Sri Lanka. The team is coached by Hyacinth Wijesinghe and captained by Gayanjali Amarawansa. As of 01 March 2023, Sri Lanka are ranked 15th in the world.
Sport in Sri Lanka is a significant part of Sri Lankan culture. Although the Sports Ministry named volleyball the national sport, the most popular sport is Cricket. Rugby union is also popular. Other popular sports are water sports, badminton, athletics, football, basketball and tennis. Sri Lanka's schools and colleges regularly organize sports and athletics teams, competing on provincial and national levels.
Asia Netball, formerly the Asian Netball Federation, Asian Federation of Netball Associations (AFNA) and Netball Asia, is the governing body of netball in Asia. Netball Asia was founded in 1986 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, three years after representatives from five Asian netball countries – Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and India – met during the 1983 Netball World Championships in Singapore to discuss the creation of an Asian netball governing body. The current president of the AFNA is Anna Wong. The Asian Region covers a total of 49 countries. The Asian Region currently has 8 Associate Members and 10 Full Regional & INF Members.
The Hong Kong national netball team represents Hong Kong in international netball competitions. They regularly compete in the biennial Asian Netball Championship, a key tournament in the region. As of their most recent ranking, they are positioned 37th in the world.
Netball is promoted in Malaysia at the Sport Carnival for All (KESUMA). In 1998, 113 districts held netball competitions. That year, there were 1,718 registered netball teams in the country. In 2001, netball was sufficiently popular in South East Asia for it to be included in the 21st Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia had a national team compete in the fifth Asian Netball Championships in Colombo in 2001. Malaysia also competed in the 7th Asian Youth Netball Championship in India in 2010. Petronas, the national oil company, has been a major sponsor of netball in the country. This type of sponsorship was encouraged by the government as part of the Rakan Sukan programme.
Netball is popular in several parts of Asia. The IFNA Asia region includes countries such as Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka. The major regional competition is the Asian Netball Championship. In 1994, the first Asian Youth Championship was held in Hong Kong.
Netball is a popular participant sport in some parts of the world, particularly in countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. According to the IFNA, over 20 million people play netball in more than 72 countries. IFNA member nations are divided into five regional groups: Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
Punjabi kabaddi, also called circle style kabaddi, is a contact sport that originated in the Punjab region, in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. There are a number of traditional Punjabi kabaddi styles traditionally played in the Punjab region. Similar to standard kabaddi, circle style kabaddi is also played at state and international levels. Starting in 2010, the Punjab government has periodically administered an international tournament called the Kabaddi World Cup, which has always been won by the India national team, except the 2020 tournament, which was played in Pakistan and won by Pakistan.
The 2015 Asian Rugby Championship division tournaments refers to the divisions played within the annual Asian Rugby Championship rugby union tournament. The Asian Rugby Championship replaced the Asian Five Nations tournament. The main tournament is now participated by the top three teams in Asia, less teams competing at the 2014 Asian Five Nations, which saw the top five teams in Asia participate. In this edition, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea participated at the main tournament.
Aishath Nazima is a retired Maldivian athlete. She competed in Volleyball, Basketball, Netball, Athletics and Handball. She was selected as Asia's 11th player of the tournament. She won one silver medal and one bronze medal. She was part of the Maldives women's national Volleyball, Athletics, Netball, Basketball and Handball teams. She is the only woman to become the Vice president of Football Association of Maldives.
The Brunei national netball team nicknamed Royal Bees, is the national team representing Brunei in international netball competitions. The team is currently coached by Jane Searle, and captained by Princess Fadzilah Lubabul Bolkiah. As of 2 December 2022, Brunei are 34th on the INF World Rankings.
The 2024 Asian Netball Championship was the 13th edition of the Asian Netball Championships, held in India from 18 October to 27 October 2024, with 14 teams taking part for the first time. Singapore won the tournament defeating Sri Lanka with a scoreline 67–64 in a closely fought final to claim their fourth Asian Netball Championship. It is their first Asian title since 2014.
2024 Asian Netball Championships 
Singapore (2024)
Sri Lanka (6 titles)
