Ahmedabad, Oct 31 India completed a double at the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship 2026, winning both men’s and women’s titles with commanding victories in the finals here on Saturday.
The Indian men’s team defeated Sri Lanka 54-20 to clinch the inaugural men’s crown, while the women beat Uganda 35-15 earlier in the evening to seal the women’s title. The triumphs capped an unbeaten campaign for both Indian teams at the nine-day competition.
Aditya Shinde led India’s charge with a Super 10, scoring 10 raid points from 14 raids, including four bonus points. Bharat Hooda added eight raid points, all in the second half, without being tackled in seven raids.
Pankaj Mohite chipped in with six points, while vice-captain Naveen Kumar added five. Yogesh Dahiya led the defence with a High 5, converting all five of his tackle attempts in the first half.
Shubham Shinde, captain Surjeet Singh, Pravesh Malik and Deepak Sankar contributed two tackle points each.
India scored 30 raid points and 14 tackle points, inflicted four All-Outs and did not concede one.
Maduwantha was Sri Lanka’s top scorer with six tackle points, including two Super Tackles, while Ansaf and Viduranga added three points each.
Sri Lanka’s raiders struggled, with Sabihan, Milinda Chathuranga and Viduranga managing just five raid points from 31 raids between them after leading the scoring in the semi-final win over Kenya.
Sri Lanka finished with 11 raid points and nine tackle points, also failing in seven of their nine do-or-die raids.
India led 15-8 with 10 minutes of the first half remaining, having already inflicted an All-Out.
They then outscored Sri Lanka 15-2 to take a 30-10 lead at half-time, with a second All-Out coming in the closing five minutes.
Sri Lanka managed just two successful raids from 21 attempts in the first half, while India’s defenders made nine successful tackles from 10 attempts.
India inflicted two more All-Outs after the break, the last coming in the final five minutes, and won the second half 24-10.
Across the match, India made 24 successful raids from 40 attempts, compared to Sri Lanka’s seven from 41.
India’s men’s title capped a perfect campaign of eight wins from eight matches.
They topped Group A with six victories, beating England 46-26, Uganda 44-30, Malaysia 37-23, Nigeria 50-23, Tanzania 48-20 and Sri Lanka 45-24.
They then thrashed Bangladesh 56-27 in the semi-finals before completing their campaign with the 54-20 win over Sri Lanka in the final.
India scored 380 points and conceded 193 during the tournament, with no opponent managing more than 30 points against them.
Women’s final
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India had earlier clinched the women’s title with a 35-15 win over Uganda, also completing an unbeaten campaign.
Sakshi top-scored with nine raid points from 10 raids, including two bonus points. Seven of her points came in the first half, when she succeeded in all six of her raids.
Anu added six raid points, while captain Nidhi Sharma contributed five, including three bonus points.
Ritu and Suman anchored the defence with four tackle points each. India finished with 20 raid points and 10 tackle points, besides inflicting two All-Outs.
Nakayongo Shirat led Uganda’s attack, attempting 24 of the team’s 35 raids and scoring 11 of their 15 points, including three bonus points. The other Ugandan raiders managed just three points between them, while semi-final standout Nalwoga Nahia was restricted to one.
Zalwango Jemima’s second-half tackle was the only occasion Uganda managed to stop an Indian raider.
The African side finished with 14 raid points and one tackle point.
India led 7-3 with 10 minutes of the first half remaining before pulling away.
They outscored Uganda 15-4 from that point, including an All-Out, to take a 22-7 lead at half-time.
India did not lose a single raid in the first half, while Uganda failed with all nine of their tackle attempts. India’s defenders, meanwhile, made six successful tackles.
Uganda edged India 7-6 on raid points after the break, but a second Indian All-Out with less than 10 minutes remaining put the result beyond doubt.
India tackled Uganda’s raiders 10 times during the match and converted three of their four do-or-die raids.
“I’m feeling great that I could score 9 raid points and help the team win,” said Sakshi, who finished the championship with 52 points from six matches.
(PTI News)
