Aslam Inamdar: from cleaning restrooms to two Asian Games golds
Aslam Inamdar played a decisive role as India defeated Iran to win the men's kabaddi gold at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Saturday, securing his second Asian Games gold medal. In a pivotal raid late in the final he secured two touches and remained uninjured despite team-mate Pawan Sehrawat calling the move risky afterward.
Inamdar grew up in Takli Bhan in Maharashtra’s Ahilyanagar district as one of five children after his father died; his mother worked in other homes washing utensils and doing household chores to support the family. His elder brother Waseem joined the police and took on family responsibilities, including arranging the marriages of their two sisters. The household lacked proper flooring and roof at times and food was scarce; Inamdar says he collected discarded bottles aged 11 or 12 to sell to scrap dealers and later worked at tea stalls, juice bars, in fields and cleaning washrooms to survive.
Kabaddi remained a constant through those years. Inspired by his brother Waseem and senior player Rahul Bhor, Inamdar trained even when he was exhausted from work, travelled across Maharashtra for local tournaments sleeping under train seats, and competed in the 50kg and 55kg categories for purses of ₹200 to ₹500 a match. He suffered a fractured leg in 2014 and watched that year’s Asian Games on television: “I was just watching kabaddi on TV. But I believe God’s plans are always better. My hard work never stopped.”
The Pro Kabaddi League transformed his earnings and profile: Inamdar says he earned ₹8 lakh in his first season — “Eight lakh felt like eight crore to me,” — and used his first major earnings to buy a gold necklace for his mother. He went on to captain Puneri Paltan and establish himself as one of India’s leading players, later winning his first Asian Games gold in Hangzhou before adding the Nagoya title three years later.
In the Nagoya final, Inamdar made a risky deep raid which drew an immediate reaction from team-mate Pawan Sehrawat, who later said: “It was a bad decision.” Inamdar’s two touches from that raid helped move India closer to victory; he defended the outcome with the remark: “It was a wrong move, but ant bhala toh sab bhala (if the end is good, it’s all worth it),” and added, “Bhai, I’ve gone through things you wouldn’t even imagine. This is nothing.” He also identified Iran as a tough opponent: “Iran is generally the most challenging opponent for us,” and noted the presence of experienced players such as Fazel Atrachali, who played in his fifth Asian Games.
Inamdar described the medals as a personal milestone: “It still feels like a dream to me,” and said, “I often think about how someone who didn’t even have food at home holds two international medals.” He has returned to Thane where, at his training ground, he speaks to younger players from underprivileged backgrounds about his journey and work ethic.
He says he wants to pass on that message to the next generation: “I want young, underprivileged players to dream big and aim to achieve even more than I have. I want them to know that whatever happens, they shouldn’t stop working hard. They shouldn’t stop believing,” a stated intention he is already acting on at his training ground in Thane.