India’s kabaddi teams head into the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 in Japan with a familiar target but a tougher challenge: retaining both the men’s and women’s gold medals. Kabaddi will be played from September 21 to 26, with the Indian men beginning against hosts Japan and the women opening their campaign against Bangladesh.
India’s dominance in Asian Games kabaddi is difficult to match. The men have won gold in eight editions, while the women have collected three gold medals since their event was introduced in 2010. Overall, India has won 11 of the 13 Asian Games kabaddi gold medals available so far.
The men’s team have won every men’s kabaddi gold from the sport’s Asian Games debut in Beijing in 1990 through 2014, before Iran ended that run in dramatic fashion at Jakarta-Palembang 2018. India had to settle for bronze, while Iran became the first nation other than India to win the men’s Asian Games title.
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The women’s team suffered a similar shock in 2018. India had won gold when women’s kabaddi debuted at the Asian Games in 2010 and retained it in 2014, but Iran defeated the favourites in the Jakarta final to claim gold, leaving India with silver. It was the first Asian Games edition in which neither Indian kabaddi team won gold.
