India’s men and women have won all four games in Ahmedabad, and Sri Lanka are keeping pace in the men’s group
Naveen Kumar and Sakshi have led the way as both India teams opened the first Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship with two wins each.
Oct 25, 2026
India’s men have played two and won two at the first Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship in Ahmedabad, and so have the women. The men beat England 46-26 on Friday and Uganda 44-30 on Saturday. The women have been even less troubled, beating Malaysia 73-13 and Singapore 32-16.
The surprise has come from elsewhere in the men’s group. Sri Lanka have won all three of theirs in Group A, and on score difference they went into Sunday’s play ahead of the hosts.
Naveen and Neeraj against England
England never got close in the opener at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex. India led 23-9 at half-time, with two all-outs already in the book. England fought back early in the second half, but India finished strongly and ended with three all-outs and none conceded.
Naveen Kumar, the vice-captain and a two-time Pro Kabaddi MVP, top-scored with 12 points, 11 of them from raids. Neeraj Narwal added 11 raid points. India won the raids 32-23 and the tackles 8-3 under Surjeet Singh’s captaincy.
Uganda were a harder night. They matched India on raid points, 27 each, and the gap came almost entirely from defence. India made 11 successful tackles to Uganda’s three, with Ajit Pawar taking three tackle points. Shivam Patare led the raiding with eight points, and Naveen and Bharat Hooda took six raid points each.
This is not the side that won gold at the Asian Games in September. None of those players were picked. Two wins by 14 points or more is a decent start from a squad where many of the players had never played a senior game for India.
Sakshi and Renuka lead the women
The women’s opener against Malaysia was over early. India were 20-3 up and 30-11 at half-time, and they inflicted six all-outs. Sakshi scored 13 points, eight from raids and five from tackles. Renuka Choudhary came off the bench and took nine raid points from nine raids. Captain Nidhi Sharma added eight raid points.
Singapore kept the score down on Saturday but could not stop India’s raiders. They did not make a single successful tackle all game. Sakshi led the raiding again with six points, and Suman Sahu had four tackle points in defence.
Sri Lanka are the team to watch in Group A
The men’s Group A has seven teams: India, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Tanzania, England, Malaysia and Nigeria. Sri Lanka beat Tanzania 48-21 and Malaysia 50-28, then edged Uganda 36-34 on Sunday afternoon. India play them last, on Thursday 29 October, and that game could decide who finishes top of the group.
Before that, India face Malaysia on Sunday night, Nigeria on Monday and Tanzania on Tuesday. Nigeria have looked the weakest side in the group, losing 66-17 to Tanzania and 68-18 to England.
The women’s Group A has five teams, and Uganda are India’s closest rival on early form after a 61-12 win over Singapore. The two meet on Sunday evening, and India finish their group against Nigeria on Monday.
The semi-finals are on 30 October and both gold medal matches are on 31 October, all in Ahmedabad. With Iran not in the Commonwealth, India came in as favourites in both draws, and I still think they win both. But I’d keep an eye on Thursday night. Sri Lanka have scored 134 points in three games and they are not here to make up the numbers.