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 offence, 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.
South Korea has traditional sports of its own, as well as sports from different cultures and countries.
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 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 three Kabaddi World Cup events to date. Pawan Sehrawat is the current captain of the team since 2022.
2007 Kabaddi World Cup was the second edition of the Kabaddi World Cup and also the second one hosted by India. Host India won the World Cup by defeating Iran 29-19 in the Final. A total of 14 originally 16 teams took part in the competition out of which 11 were Asian.
Pakistan national kabaddi team represents Pakistan in international kabaddi. The Pakistan Kabaddi Federation manages the team.
The England national kabbadi team was established in 1992 and represents England in the National Kabaddi Association. The team is also affiliated with the International Kabaddi Association. In the 2004 Kabaddi World Cup, which was the inaugural Kabaddi World Cup tournament, the team reached the quarter-finals following wins against Malaysia and South Korea and a loss against Japan, where they lost to Canada national kabaddi team. The team has participated in the group phases of the 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2012 Kabaddi World Cup tournaments, but did not qualify for the semi-finals.
2004 Kabaddi World Cup was the first ever Kabaddi World Cup and was hosted by India. India won the title defeating Iran 55–27 in the final.
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.
Pro Kabaddi League or abbreviated to PKL is an Indian men's professional Kabaddi league. It was launched in 2014 and is broadcast on Star Sports. It is the most popular kabaddi league in the world. It is also the second most watched sports league in India after the Indian Premier League (IPL). Puneri Paltan are the current champions of PKL.
Kabaddi at the 2014 Asian Games was held in Songdo Global University Gymnasium, Incheon, South Korea from 28 September to 3 October 2014. Both of India's men's and women's teams faced and defeated Iran's respective teams in the finals, earning India's teams the Gold while Iran's teams won the Silver. Meanwhile the men's team for both South Korea and Pakistan won the Bronze, as well as the women's teams of Bangladesh and Thailand, after their respective defeats in semifinals.
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.
The South Korea national kabaddi team represents South Korea in international kabaddi competitions.
Abhilasha Mhatre is an Indian professional kabaddi player and was the Captain of Indian National Women's Kabaddi Team. She has won the Arjuna Award of Government of India in 2015. Known for her elegant footwork she is regarded as one of the finest kabaddi players in India. She is fondly referred as "Queen of Kabaddi". She was a member of the Indian kabaddi team that won the gold medal at the Asian Games in 2014 in Incheon. She was also the member of Indian team that won the Kabaddi World Cup in 2012 in Patna, India.
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.
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.
Lee Jang-kun (Korean: 이장군) is a former South Korean professional Kabaddi player and television personality. He is the first overseas player in the Pro Kabaddi League to score 400 raid points. He became the most valuable international player in the fifth season after he was retained by Bengal Warriors and has played for the same franchise until the sixth season. He joined Patna Pirates in the seventh season. He is the most successful foreign raider in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League.
The 11th Edition of Asian Kabaddi Championship was held at Busan, Republic of Korea from 27 June to 30 June 2023. Indian men's team won the event by defeating Iran in the final 42-32.
