The dominance of Indian teams at the Asian Games

Asian Games is all set to begin on 23rd September and will end on 8th October 2023. India will participate in several disciplines, and Kabaddi is one of them. The Indian men's and women's Kabaddi teams are the favourites to clinch the gold medal this time, despite not being the defending champions. In fact, this will be the first since the inaugural edition where both teams will be entering the Games not as the defending champions.

Men's Kabaddi was included way back in 1990 and it was years before Women's Kabaddi became a thing in Asian Games. In China in 1990, Kabaddi was included as a competitive sport with medals. In the first edition, there were six teams- India, Pakistan, Japan, Bangladesh, China and Nepal. The competition was in a round-robin format. India topped the table to clinch the gold medal.

In the first four editions, Bangladesh ended as the runner-up thrice and Pakistan once. Until 2002, there was only a Round-Robin format and there were no play-offs.

The Play-offs were introduced only in 2006. In 2006, after the round-robin format, the top two teams faced in the final. India and Pakistan met in the final of the 2006 edition and India clinched the Gold by winning 35-23.

In the 2010 edition at Guangzhou, proper play-offs and group stages were introduced. The top teams of the group stage met in the semi-finals and the losing semi-finalists were awarded bronze medals for the first time. India and Iran met in the final of the event, where India won by 37-20. Pakistan and Japan were the bronze medallists.

The Asian Games 2014 final also witnessed India and Iran. The Indian team defended their title in a close contest, winning by 27-25. South Korea and Pakistan were the bronze medalists.

While India had won the gold in every single Asian Games from 1990 to 2014, India faced their first big defeat in 2018. The dominance of the Indian team came to an end in the previous edition. The Indian men's team suffered their first-ever loss in the Asian Games against South Korea in the league stage. After suffering a shock against South Korea, India was knocked out of the tournament in the semi-final against Iran. This was the first-ever edition that did not see an Indian team in the final.

In 2023, India will look to make a statement once again in the Asian Games and will look to grab the gold medal.

The Women's Kabaddi Team also share a good record in the Asian Games. Unlike Men's Kabaddi, the women's tournament was introduced only in 2010. Since then, there were only three editions. In the 2010 edition, India defeated Thailand by 28-14 to clinch the gold medal. Bangladesh and Iran finished as bronze medalists.

India successfully defended their title in the 2014 edition. The team defeated Iran by 31-21 in the final. The 2010 runners-up Thailand clinched a bronze medal along with Bangladesh.

In the last edition at Jakarta, the Indian Women's team also faced a shocking defeat. The team made it to the final but Iran delivered a knock-out to win by 27-24 in the final to clinch the gold. Chinese Taipei and Thailand won the bronze medal.

So far, India has clinched nine gold medals, one silver and one bronze in Kabaddi at Asian Games.

Iran is the only other team to win a gold medal in the Asian Games. They will enter the upcoming edition as the defending champions in both men's and women's kabaddi competitions.