Nagoya. Defending champion India topped the group by winning 4 out of 4 matches. Now the Indian men's Kabaddi team will play the semi-finals on Friday. After defeating Chinese Taipei 37-21 on Thursday, they reached the semi-finals of the men's Kabaddi event of the Asian Games. This is India's fourth consecutive win in the group stage. Earlier, the Indian team had defeated South Korea, Japan and Bangladesh. In this way, India secured at least a bronze medal by winning all its matches in the group stage.
India controlled the match from the beginning and took a lead of 23-11 at half time. In the second half also, the Indian team maintained its dominance and during this period was ahead by 14-10. India scored 28 points from successful raids, three bonus points and six points from all outs.
India continued to dominate the game
Just before the end of the first half, Chinese Taipei again faced all out. India was leading 23-11 at half-time. The performance of Rahul Sethpal, playing at the right corner, was especially excellent.
In the second half, players like Devank Dalal and Ayaan Lochab came on the field for India. He further consolidated his lead and scored another all out.
Competitions took place between which groups?
The men's Kabaddi tournament at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 began with 10 teams divided into two equal groups. India were placed in Group A along with Bangladesh, Republic of Korea, Chinese Taipei and Japan. Group B consisted of Islamic Republic of Iran, Nepal, Thailand, Pakistan and Malaysia.
When did the matches take place?
The Indian men's team has won 9 medals since Kabaddi was included in the Asian Games in 1990. These include eight gold medals. India's gold medal winning streak was broken in 2018, when the team got the bronze medal. The Indian women's team has also registered two consecutive wins in the group stage. After defeating Bangladesh in their first match, they defeated Iran 37-23. The Indian women's team will next face host Japan in the group stage.