Iran take their Asian Games squad to Islamabad, and their hosts are in the same group

Iran’s men’s kabaddi team lands in Islamabad on Thursday for a week of training and practice matches with Pakistan, which is an odd way to prepare for a tournament in which the two of them have been drawn in the same group.

The camp runs until 27 August at Rodham Hall inside the Pakistan Sports Complex, and it was Pakistan who asked for it. The Asian Games open in Japan’s Aichi prefecture on 19 September, with the kabaddi mats at the Tokai Citizens Gymnasium busy from 21 to 26 September.

Pakistan invited the team they have to beat

“We are very much thankful to the Iran Kabaddi Federation for sending their team. It will help both sides prepare well for the Asiad,” Pakistan Kabaddi Federation secretary general Mohammad Sarwar told The Express Tribune.

The plan is joint sessions plus a practice match every day, and Sarwar said the federation is weighing whether to stage some of the games as a Test series. Pakistan picked a 16-man camp squad off trials, the national championship and the National Games, and only two of those players were at the last Asian Games in Hangzhou. Rahat Maqsood, Mohammad Arshad and Hamid Mukhtar are running the sessions.

Sarwar, a former Pakistan captain, was candid about where his sport now sits. There was a time, he said, when India and Pakistan ruled kabaddi in both the Asian and circle styles, and Iran and South Korea have since closed that gap far enough to trouble India. Pakistan have not won anything better than bronze at the last two Games, after silvers in 1998 and 2006.

Iran arrive with a squad Indian fans know

Iran named their 12 on 10 August, and the men at the top of the list will be familiar to anyone who watches the Pro Kabaddi League. Fazel Atrachali captains the side at 34, going to his fifth Asian Games, with gold from Jakarta in 2018 and silver from Guangzhou, Incheon and Hangzhou. He is the PKL’s all-time leading defender and the first to 500 tackle points. Mohammad Reza Shadloui is the other headline name, and Reza Mirbagheri of the Jaipur Pink Panthers is in at left cover. Navvab Tazehghale takes over as head coach from Gholamreza Mazandarani.

Jakarta 2018 is the one edition India did not win. Iran knocked them out 27-18 in the semi-final and then beat South Korea 26-16 for the gold. The three times the two have met in an Asian Games final, including Hangzhou, India have won. That record is the reason a joint camp in Islamabad is worth an Indian fan’s attention at all.

What it means for India

India’s men are in Group A with Bangladesh, South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Japan. Iran are in Group B with Pakistan, Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand. Ten teams, two groups of five, which means India and Iran cannot meet before the knockouts and will probably meet in the final if both hold up.

The women’s draw did not separate them. India’s women are in Group A alongside Iran, Japan and Bangladesh, so that one comes early.

India’s own preparation has been quieter and slower. The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India started with 45 probables, cut to 29 for a second camp in June, and has not put a final squad out. Iran have had their 12 named for over a week and are about to spend another week playing matches against a Group B opponent. Whether a camp against Pakistan sharpens Iran or simply hands Pakistan a look at them before 21 September, we will find out in Aichi.

Follow the road to the Asian Games mats