Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship 2026: India men and women, both unbeaten, reach finals

Indian women take on Uganda while the men face Sri Lanka in the finals on Saturday.

Updated : Oct 30, 2026 23:19 IST , Chennai - 3 MINS READ

Indian men dominated Bangladesh throughout the semifinals in Ahmedabad on Friday. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI

The Indian kabaddi contingent at the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championships continued its dominance by reaching the finals. On Friday, after the women beat Sri Lanka 39-14, the men followed it up by defeating Bangladesh 56-27 at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad.

Both the men and women had earlier remained unbeaten through the group stages.

In the semifinals, the Indian women crushed Sri Lanka with a strong defensive performance as well as well-strategised raids in both halves of the match. Sakshi led the host with 11 points, eight coming from raids, with captain Nidhi Sharma following her with a highly efficient 10 raid points from 12 raids.

Ritu and Suman anchored the defence with four and three tackle points, respectively, which led to India delivering three All-Outs. However, the Lankans were disappointing in their raid attempts, managing just eight successful ones in the whole match.

READ | India men make it six wins in six by beating Sri Lanka

“I’m very happy, it feels really good to have reached the final. We have played Uganda before, but they will change their strategy because it’s the second time we’re facing them, so it will be a good match,” said India captain Nidhi Sharma after the match.

Indian men produced yet another strong performance, defeating Bangladesh. Indian raiders shared the responsibility, with all of them returning multiple raid points, including Bharat Hooda and Shivam Patre, who got more than 10 raid points each.

Having built a big lead in the first half, 28-8, India relied on Bangladesh to make mistakes and capitalise on them in the second half. Bangladesh was unable to respond to the Indian pressure, and the lead kept growing. Dipayon Golder was the only efficient raider for the side.

India registered 37 raid points, 12 tackle points and six All-Out points in its performance.

“It is a proud moment for us to reach the final of the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship. The team is in high spirits, and our aim is to continue this unbeaten run and win the title. With 13 countries participating, the tournament is an important step towards growing kabaddi internationally,” said captain Surjeet Singh

In the other women’s semifinal, Uganda beat Kenya 23-21, in a tight affair. Meanwhile, in the men’s semifinal, Sri Lanka edged out a stubborn Kenya side to secure a 28-24 victory.

Indian women will now face Uganda, whom they had already met in the group stage and defeated 41-18, in the final.

Indian men will face Sri Lanka in an equally enticing summit clash.

The women’s final will be played on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. IST while the men’s final will begin at 9 p.m. IST.