Asian Kabaddi Championship 2023: India becomes champion for the 8th time, defeats Iran 42-32

In the final of the Asian Kabaddi Championship 2023, India defeated Iran 42–32 and captured the trophy for the 8th time at the Seokdang Cultural Center of Dong-eui Institute Of Technology in Busan, Republic of Korea on Friday.

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India has won the title eight times out of nine editions of the competition, with Iran lifting the trophy in 2003. Earlier in the day, India had beaten Hong Kong 64-20 to end the league stage of the tournament undefeated.

Six teams, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Hong Kong participated in the Asian Kabaddi Championships 2023. India won all five matches in the league stage and topped the points table. Iran came second, only losing to India in the league stage, and made the final.

🇮🇳India defeats Iran🇮🇷 in a hard-fought battle and qualifies for the FINALS of the Asian Kabaddi Championship 2023 ✨

Score: 33-28#Kabaddi pic.twitter.com/SxjPCpOdZf

— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) June 29, 2023

Meanwhile, India's biggest win in the league stage, a 76-13 victory, came against Korea on the opening day of the Asian Kabaddi Championship 2023. While their narrowest victory of 33-28 came against Iran on Thursday.

India was trailing in the opening minutes. But soon came back brilliantly in the 10th minute with the help of successful raids by captain Pawan Sehrawat and Aslam Inamdar to all-out the Iranian team. Pawan Sehrawat, who was captaining India in the Asian Games, also scored a Super 10 in the match. In the 19th minute, India maintained their dominance. They got the opposition all out for the second time in the match.

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In the first half, the Indian team maintained a strong lead of 23-11. Iranian captain Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh followed up a two-point raid with a super raid. After that, Mohammadreza sealed India's first all-out in the 29th minute. But in the end, India won the match 42-32.

The next big challenge for the Indian kabaddi teams will be the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. The tournament will start from September 23 to October 8. Iran, who beat India in the semi-finals in Jakarta in 2018, will be the defending champions at the continental multi-sport showpiece.