India cleared the Bangladesh mat twice, and the team that took their one lost gold is next
A 42-21 win at the Tokai Citizens Gymnasium started India’s women’s kabaddi title defence, and Iran arrive on Wednesday morning.
Sep 21, 2026
India’s women began their kabaddi gold defence on Monday evening with a 42-21 win over Bangladesh at the Tokai Citizens Gymnasium, and the half-time score told you most of what you needed to know. It was 21-10 at the break. The second half was a formality.
This was the opening Group A fixture of a title defence that has an obvious obstacle in it, and the obstacle is not Bangladesh. India play Iran on Wednesday morning.
How the 42 points broke down
Sanju Devi did the heavy lifting in attack, stringing together successful raids through the middle of the match and again late on when Bangladesh briefly looked like making a game of it. Sonali Shingate and captain Pushpa Rana chipped in with points of their own, and Manisha Kumari was the pick of the defenders from the left cover position.
India’s 42 points included 11 bonus points and four from all-outs, meaning they cleared the Bangladesh mat twice. Bangladesh had five bonus points and a single super tackle to show for the evening. Their captain, Sraboni Mollick, kept them on the scoreboard, but the Indian defence rarely let anyone else near it.
A new captain from the same village
Pushpa Rana is leading India for the first time at a major Games. She took the armband from Ritu Negi, who captained the side to gold at the last Asian Games in Hangzhou and is still in this squad as her deputy.
The two come from the same corner of the country, the Shillai area of Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh, and Pushpa grew up watching Ritu become the local example of what was possible. Handovers in Indian sport are not usually this neat. Neither is having the outgoing captain stay on in the side without a sulk.
Iran are the whole tournament
Women’s kabaddi has been contested at four Asian Games. India have won three of them, in 2010, 2014 and 2022. The one they lost was 2018 in Jakarta, when Iran beat them in the final, and Iran are the other serious team in Group A.
That match is on Wednesday at 8:30am IST, an early start for anyone watching at home, and it will effectively decide who tops the group. India then finish their group stage against hosts Japan on Thursday at 4:15pm IST. Semi-finals are on Friday, the final on Saturday morning at 9:30am IST.
Beating Bangladesh by 21 points proves nothing about whether India can beat Iran. What it does show is a side that got its defensive shape right from the first raid and never had to chase the game, which is more than India managed in Jakarta eight years ago. Wednesday will tell us the rest.