| Most recent season or competition: 2023 | |
| Sport | Kabaddi |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2019 |
| First season | 2019 |
| Administrator | International Kabaddi Federation |
| Region | International |
| Most recent champion(s) | M: India (1st title) |
| Most titles | M: Iran and India (1 title each) |
The Junior Kabaddi World Cup is an indoor junior international Kabaddi competition conducted by the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) in a standard style. In 2019, the first Junior Kabaddi World Cup was held in Iran and was won by the hosts. [1] The second edition which was also held in Iran was won by India. [2]
With the return of international kabaddi post COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 Asian Games, the IKF in 2024 announced the calendar with the third Junior Men's World Cup in 2025 and the start of the inaugural Junior Women's World Cup in 2024. [3]
| Year | Host | Final | Third place | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runner-up | |||||
| 2019 |  Kish Island | Iran | 42–22 |  Kenya |  Bangladesh | and |  Pakistan |
| 2023 | Urmia |  India | 41–33 | Iran |  Nepal | and | Pakistan |
| 2025 | | TBD | |||||
| Year | Host | Final | Third place | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runner-up | ||||||
| 2024 | | TBD | ||||||
Kabaddi is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players, originating in ancient India. The objective of the game is for a single player on offense, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their players as possible, and return to their own half of the court, all without being tackled by the defenders in 30 seconds. 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.
Association football is one of the four most-popular sports in India, the others being Cricket, Kabaddi and Field hockey. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) recognises the Indian Super League as the national football league of India. The Santosh Trophy is a knock-out competition among Indian states and government institutions.
The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup is a biennial international women's association football tournament for female players under the age of 17. It is organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) since 2008. The current champions are Spain, who won its second title at the 2022 edition in India.
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.
India has a history of sports dating back to the Vedic period, with Western sports having been imported during British rule. Cricket is the most popular spectator sport; it generates the highest television viewership, with the Indian Premier League (IPL) being the most-followed league in the country. Football has also gained popularity, with the Indian Super League (ISL) being the highest level of domestic football, and the national team winning multiple gold medals at the Asian and South Asian Games. Additional football accomplishments include India having reached the Groupstage of the 1960 Olympics, qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup, and won the SAFF Championship. Other sports include kabaddi, badminton, tennis, and athletics, with kho-kho becoming the fourth-most viewed sport. India has also had success in field hockey, winning the World Cup and multiple medals in the Olympic Games. Sports such as golf, rugby, boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, motorsport, wrestling, and basketball are featured throughout the country.
The India men's national kabaddi team represents India in international men's kabaddi competitions. The team is by far the most successful national kabaddi side of any country, winning gold medals at the Asian Games in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2022, as well as winning all four Kabaddi World Cup events to date. Pawan Sehrawat is the current captain of the team since 2022.
The 2012 Women's Kabaddi World Cup was the first Kabaddi World Cup held for women. It was organised by The Government of Bihar and the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India. It was held at Patna from 1 to 4 March 2012 at the Patliputra Sports Complex, Kankarbagh. Hosts India won the World Cup defeating Iran in the finals.
Kabaddi, is a contact sport, native to the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the most popular sports in India, played mainly among people in villages. India has taken part in four Asian Games in kabaddi, and won gold in all of them. Four forms of kabaddi played in India are Amar, Suranjeevi, huttuttoo, and Gaminee. Amar is generally played in Punjab, Haryana, the United States, Canada, and other parts of the world, mostly by Punjabi sportsmen. Suranjeevi is the most played form of kabaddi in India and the world. This is the form used in international matches generally and played in Asian Games. Huttuttoo was played by men in Maharashtra. In Gaminee style, seven players play on each side and a player put out has to remain out until all his team members are out. The team that is successful in outing all the players of the opponent's side secures a point. The game continues until five or seven such points are secured and has no fixed time duration.
The India women's national kabaddi team represents India in international women's kabaddi competitions.
The Patliputra Stadium at the Patliputra Sports Complex is a multi-purpose stadium in Kankarbagh, Patna, Bihar. The first Women World Cup Kabaddi Championship was held here in its inaugural year, in which 16 countries had participated. It also hosted seven league matches of new Pro Kabaddi League with its home team Patna Pirates from 7 to 10 August in 2014.
Shankarrao Salvi was an Indian Kabaddi player, coach and administrator. He was life president of Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India.
Mamatha Poojary is an Indian professional international kabaddi player. She is the former captain of the Indian women's Kabaddi team and has been awarded the Rajyotsava Prashasti, the second-highest award of the Government of Karnataka. On 2 September 2014 she was conferred with the Arjuna Award by President Pranab Mukherjee in recognition of her achievements in Kabaddi.
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, through various governing bodies such as Kabaddi World Cup.
The AFC Women's Futsal Asian Cup, previously the AFC Women's Futsal Championship, is the premier national women's futsal competition of the Asian Football Confederation nations. Iran have won both editions held to date.
The Kabaddi World Cup, is an indoor international Kabaddi competition conducted by the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) in a standard style, contested by men's and women's national teams. The competition has been previously contested in 2004, 2007, 2016. All three tournaments have been won by India. In 2012, the first Kabaddi World Cup for women was held in India. The current format of the competition involves a round-robin group stage, with 5 teams in 2 pools, with the first and second place finishers of each group progressing to the semi-finals.
Asian Kabaddi Championship is a standard style Kabaddi tournament. It was first held in 1980. The 9th tournament was held in Republic of Korea and won by India and secured its 8th medal.
2018 in Indian sports describes the year's events in Indian sport. The main highlight for this year for India is the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
The Dubai Kabaddi Masters was a 6 nation Kabaddi Masters series which was held in the United Arab Emirates for 9 days from 22 June 2018 – 30 June 2018. This was also the inaugural edition of the tournament. This was the first international kabaddi sport event to be witnessed in the UAE. The tournament featured defending world champions India, Pakistan, Iran, Republic of Korea, Argentina and Kenya. India was regarded as the firm favourites to lift the inaugural Dubai Kabaddi Masters title. The tournament was hosted at the Al Wasl Sports Club in Dubai.
The 2025 Kabaddi World Cup will be the fourth edition of the standard-style Kabaddi World Cup, and will be hosted in India during the month of January 2025.
The World Beach Kabaddi Championship is a international Beach kabaddi competition conducted by the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF). In 2024, the first World Beach Kabaddi Championship was held in Iran and was won by the hosts.