India's top kabaddi players begin Asian Games prep at elite training camp in Bellary
India's kabaddi squad has gathered in Bellary, Karnataka, for a week-long training camp designed to sharpen fitness levels ahead of the 2026 Asian Games in Japan later this year. The camp, jointly run by the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) and Mashal Sports, started on March 27 and runs through to April 2 at the Inspire Institute of Sport.
PKL stars headline the squad
The men's contingent includes some of the biggest names in Pro Kabaddi League history. Naveen Kumar, Arjun Deshwal, Pawan Sehrawat, Aslam Inamdar, Sunil Kumar, Ashu Malik and Bharat Hooda are all part of the group. The focus is on strength and conditioning rather than match play, with the IIS facility in Bellary providing world-class training infrastructure.
The women's squad features several members of the team that won the Women's Kabaddi World Cup. Captain Ritu Negi leads the group, joined by Sonali Vishnu Shingate, Pushpa Rana, Champa Thakur, Pinki Roy, Priya and Karthika R.
Building towards Japan
India won seven consecutive men's kabaddi gold medals at the Asian Games from 1990 to 2014 before Iran ended that run in Jakarta in 2018. Reclaiming that dominance is a clear motivation for this camp, with Iran, South Korea and Bangladesh all expected to push India hard again.
The Bellary camp is part of a broader preparation plan that AKFI announced earlier this month when they released an expanded list of men's probables on March 25. Mashal Sports, who operate the PKL, have committed resources to the programme as part of their push to professionalise the national team setup beyond the franchise league.
More training camps are expected before the Asian Games squad is finalised, with match practice sessions likely to follow once the fitness block wraps up in early April.
Cricket Updates
