India Starts Kabaddi World Cup 2025 Defence Strong, Beats Italy Easily
The Indian men’s kabaddi team began their journey to defend their World Cup title with a big win against Italy. The match, held in Wolverhampton on Monday, saw India dominate and win 64-22. This victory puts India at the top of Group B in the Kabaddi World Cup 2025.
The match was clearly one-sided. India showed their strength and skill from the very beginning. They scored points easily, and Italy struggled to keep up. In other words, India played much better than Italy. Also in Group B, Scotland won against Wales with a score of 63-43. This puts Scotland in second place in the group.
Now, India will play their next match against Scotland on Tuesday in Wolverhampton. This match will be important for both teams as they try to secure a top spot in the group.
The Kabaddi World Cup 2025 is being held in England, across four cities: Birmingham, Coventry, Walsall, and Wolverhampton. Both the men’s and women’s Indian teams are defending champions. They won the titles in the last World Cup, held in Malaysia in 2019.
For the men’s competition, ten teams are participating. They are divided into two groups of five. Group A includes Hungary, England, Poland, Germany, and the USA. Group B has India, Italy, Scotland, Wales, and Hong Kong. After each team plays all the others in their group, the top four teams from each group will move on to the quarterfinals. These matches will start on March 21.
On the other hand, the women’s competition has six teams. They are divided into two groups of three. Group D consists of India, Wales, and Poland. Group E has Hong Kong, Hungary, and England. The Indian women’s team will start their campaign against Wales on Tuesday. Similarly to the men’s tournament, the top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals, starting on March 21.
Furthermore, the teams that lose in the semi-finals of both the men’s and women’s tournaments will play for third place. The women’s third-place match will be on March 22, and the men’s will be on March 23.
To recap, the 2019 Kabaddi World Cup in Malaysia saw India win both the men’s and women’s titles. They beat Iraq in the men’s final and Chinese Taipei in the women’s final. Now, they are trying to repeat that success in England.
India’s strong start against Italy shows they are serious about defending their title. Their next match against Scotland will be a good test. Also, the women’s team is ready to begin their journey, and fans are excited to see if they can also win again.
