India beat Sri Lanka 54-20 to win inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship 2026
India defeated Sri Lanka 54-20 in the final to claim the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship 2026, the men’s side sealing the title decisively. The men’s victory completed a tournament double for India after the women’s team beat Uganda 35-15 in the women’s final.
India finished the tournament unbeaten with eight wins from eight matches, scoring 380 points and conceding 193 across the competition; no opponent scored more than 30 against them. Their pathway to the final included topping Group A and a 56-27 semi-final win over Bangladesh.
Aditya Shinde top-scored for India with a Super 10, registering 10 raid points from 14 raids, including four bonus points. Bharat Hooda contributed eight raid points, all in the second half, and was not tackled in seven raids; Pankaj Mohite scored six and vice-captain Naveen Kumar added five. In defence, Yogesh Dahiya produced a High 5 with five successful tackles from five attempts, all in the first half, while Shubham Shinde, captain Surjeet Singh, Pravesh Malik and Deepak Sankar collected two tackle points each.
India’s match totals reflected their dominance: 30 raid points and 14 tackle points, four All-Outs inflicted and none conceded. They led 15-8 with 10 minutes remaining in the first half after an All-Out, then outscored Sri Lanka 15-2 to reach 30-10 at half-time, with a second All-Out in the closing five minutes of the half. Sri Lanka managed just two successful raids from 21 in the opening half while India’s defence completed nine successful tackles from 10 attempts.
After the break India inflicted two further All-Outs, the final one coming inside the last five minutes, and won the second half 24-10. Across the match India completed 24 successful raids from 40 attempts while Sri Lanka managed seven from 41. Sri Lanka finished with 11 raid points and nine tackle points.
Sri Lanka’s Maduwantha was their top scorer with six tackle points, including two Super Tackles; Ansaf and Viduranga added three points apiece. Several Sri Lankan raiders who had led scoring in the semi-final against Kenya — Sabihan, Milinda Chathuranga and Viduranga — managed just five raid points from 31 raids between them in the final, and Sri Lanka failed in seven of their nine do-or-die raids.
India topped Group A with six wins, beating England 46-26, Uganda 44-30, Malaysia 37-23, Nigeria 50-23, Tanzania 48-20 and Sri Lanka 45-24, before the 56-27 semi-final victory over Bangladesh and the 54-20 final win over Sri Lanka.
Speaking after the match, Aditya Shinde, who top-scored for India with a Super 10, said, “With more and more tournaments being held, it’s great for the people of Ahmedabad too, and we received so much support from them. We hope everyone comes out to support us the same way in the competitions ahead. There will be a celebration, a really big one, and it’s already going on here!”
