India women’s team defended its Kabaddi gold medal with a strong performance against an impressive Iranian side in the Asian Games 2026 final at the Tokai Citizen Gymnasium on Saturday.
The Indian team clinched its fourth Kabaddi gold in the history of the Asian Games with a 37-34 win over 2018 champions Iran. This is India’s fourth women’s Kabaddi gold and third for the Indian contingent at the ongoing Asian Games.
The Women in Blue held their nerve in a thrilling gold medal match. They kept a lead for the majority of the final and went to the first half break with a scoreline of 22-16. The Iranian women gave the Indian women a good run and pushed them to the limits in the second half, collecting 18 points in reply to India’s 15. However, the Women in Blue had done enough to seal the contest 37-34.
The contest began on a close note with the two teams level on 5-5 after four minutes into the first half. Iran took the lead at 6-5 with a super ankle hold on India’s Sanju.
The two teams remained close in the next few minutes too, with Pooja bringing a point and Iran left with one player. India inflicted the first all-out when Bhavna Devi tackled the raider for a 13-10 lead for India.
India’s Nikita then produced a multi-point raid to give the defending champions a 15-10 lead before Sanju Devi earned three points for a bonus plus two. At the end of the first half, India had an arm’s distance against the Iranians with a 22-16 lead.
The second half also saw some close battles on raids and defence. Iran ramped up a few points to reduce India’s lead to three points. Indian were left with two players on the mat and unleashed a solid tackle to take a 25-20 lead with 10 minutes to go.
Iran did not give up anytime soon, with Zahra Karimi putting some crucial tackles as India were not allowed to run away with the game. Iran also inflicted an all-out on India with Madadi bringing two points to close the 27-26 in favour of India with eight minutes remaining on the timer.
However, Sanju produced another two-point raid to help India keep Iran at bay and lead 34-28. Pooja collected another point as India held their nerves to win the contest 37-34.
