The 2025 Kabaddi World Cup was the second edition of the Kabaddi World Cup held under the authority of World Kabaddi.[1][2] It was hosted in the West Midlands, England, during 17–23 March 2025.[3][1][4] There were both men's and women's competitions in the tournament.[5][6]
.webp) Official logo of the 2025 Kabbadi World Cup | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 17–23 March 2025 |
| Administrator | Host: England Kabaddi Scottish Kabaddi British Kabaddi League Sanctioned by: World Kabaddi |
| Format | Standard style |
Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and Knockout |
| Host |  England |
| Venue | Wolverhampton Coventry Birmingham Walsall |
| Participants |
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| Website | https://kabaddiworldcup2025.com/ |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | |
| 1st runners-up | |
| 2nd runners-up |
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 34 (M: 24, W: 10) |
As the event was being held, the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) issued a statement clarifying that the event was not authorised by the IKF and the outcome would not be recognised by the Olympic Council of Asia, the Asian Kabaddi Federation (AKF), or the Asian Games.[7]
The India team won both the men's and women's World Kabaddi championship events, with England as the runner-up in both cases.
History
editThe previous World Cup organised by World Kabaddi was held in Melaka, Malaysia in 2019.[2][8] A 2020 edition of the tournament was scheduled, but then was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision to award the 2025 World Cup to the West Midlands of England was in part due to its hosting of the British Kabaddi League and the 2022 Commonwealth Games,[9] as well as its significant South Asian community.[10] The event was supported by the West Midlands Combined Authority.[1] The drawing of groups was held on 7 December 2024.[1]
The tournament was initially planned to feature 16 teams in the men's competition and 8 teams in the women's competition.[1] However, due to visa and other challenges, the tournament was later scaled down to 10 teams in the men's and 6 teams in the women's competition.[11]
Venues
edit| Venue | City | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| WV Active Aldersley[13] | Wolverhampton |
|
| CBS Arena[14] | Coventry | 19 March 2025 |
| Nechells Wellbeing Centre[15] | Birmingham | 20 March 2025 |
| Walsall Campus Sports Centre[16] | Walsall | 21 March 2025 |
Men's group stage
editGroup A
edit| Team | Pld | W | D | L | P | SF | SA | SD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 249 | 81 | 168 |
 Poland |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 174 | 126 | 48 |
 United States |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 145 | 173 | -28 |
 Hungary |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 87 | 275 | -188 |
- advanced to the knockout stage
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Group B
edit| Team | Pld | W | D | L | P | SF | SA | SD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 India |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 303 | 154 | 149 |
 Scotland |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 286 | 168 | 118 |
 Wales |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 229 | 246 | -17 |
 Hong Kong China |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 151 | 261 | -110 |
 Italy |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 137 | 277 | -140 |
- advanced to the knockout stage
|
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Men's knockout stage
editSource:[11]
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| A1 | England
| 89 | ||||||||||||
| B4 | Hong Kong China
| 23 | ||||||||||||
| QF1W | England
| 84 | ||||||||||||
| QF2W | Scotland
| 36 | ||||||||||||
| A3 | United States
| 30 | ||||||||||||
| B2 | Scotland
| 89 | ||||||||||||
| SF1W | England
| 41 | ||||||||||||
| SF2W | India
| 44 | ||||||||||||
| A2 | Poland
| 38 | ||||||||||||
| B3 | Wales
| 52 | ||||||||||||
| QF3W | Wales
| 37 | Third place | |||||||||||
| QF4W | India
| 93 | ||||||||||||
| A4 | Hungary
| 24 | SF1L | Scotland
| 67 | |||||||||
| B1 | India
| 69 | SF2L | Wales
| 56 | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
edit
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Semi-finals
edit
|
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Team India after victory
Team England after victory
India vs Wales
Scotland vs England
3rd place match
edit
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Final
edit
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Women's group stage
editGroup D
edit| Team | Pld | W | D | L | P | SF | SA | SD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 193 | 33 | 160 |
| Wales |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 76 | 133 | -57 |
| Poland |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 59 | 162 | -103 |
- advanced to the knockout stage
|
|
|
Group E
edit| Team | Pld | W | D | L | P | SF | SA | SD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 130 | 54 | 76 |
| Hong Kong China |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 112 | 65 | 47 |
| Hungary |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 158 | -123 |
- advanced to the knockout stage
|
|
|
Women's knockout stage
editSource:[11]
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
| A1 | India
| 53 | |||||||
| B2 | Hong Kong China
| 15 | |||||||
| SF1W | India
| 57 | |||||||
| SF2W | England
| 34 | |||||||
| A2 | Wales
| 25 | |||||||
| B1 | England
| 72 | Third place | ||||||
| SF1L | Hong Kong China
| 75 | |||||||
| SF2L | Wales
| 14 | |||||||
Semi-finals
edit
|
|
3rd place match
edit
|
Wales vs Hong Kong China
Team Wales
Final
edit
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Broadcasting
editSource:[19]
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
| Rights distribution partner | Dice sports |
| Worldwide | talkSPORTKabaddi on YouTube Olympic Channel (semi-final onwards)[20] |
| Fiji | Fijian Broadcasting Corporation |
| India | DD Sports Waves India |
| Indonesia | TVRI |
| Mauritius | Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation |
| Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation ThePapare 1 (SD & HD) |
| Tanzania | Azam TV |
| United Kingdom | BBC iPlayer |
| United Kingdom and Europe | Zee Punjabi |
| USA and Canada | Willow TV |
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 Murray, Keir (7 December 2024). "Kabaddi World Cup 2025: West Midlands gearing up to host tournament". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- 1 2 "2025 Kabaddi World Cup To Be Hosted By West Midlands". Outlook. PTI.
- ↑ Sankar, Vimal (12 November 2022). "West Midlands region named host of 2025 Kabaddi World Cup". Inside the Games. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ↑ "UK's West Midlands Region to Host 2025 Kabaddi World Cup". News18. IANS. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ↑ Traub, Matt (16 November 2022). "2025 Kabaddi World Cup Heading to West Midlands". SportsTravel. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ↑ "West Midlands to host Kabaddi World Cup in 2025". The Times of India. PTI. 11 November 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ↑ "Kabaddi World Cup disapproved by global body". Rediff.com. 21 March 2025.
The ongoing so-called Kabaddi World Cup 2025 in the UK conducted under the aegis of the so-called World Kabaddi Federation has not been authorised by the International Kabaddi Federation, that is the international governing body for the sport of Kabaddi as recognized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). The OCA, the IKF, and the Asian Kabaddi Federation (AKF) also oversee and supervise the conduct of the medal competition of kabaddi for men and women at the Asian Games since 1990, and other international kabaddi tournaments.
- ↑ "West Midlands to host Kabaddi World Cup in 2025". ThePrint. ANI. 12 November 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ↑ Vukmirovic, James (12 November 2022). "Best of Kabaddi world set to come to West Midlands". Express & Star. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ↑ "Will the Kabaddi World Cup 2025 boost the sport's popularity?". The Phoenix Newspaper. 17 December 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Competition - Kabaddi World Cup 2025". kabaddiworldcup2025.com. 28 November 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
- ↑ Case, Charlie (20 December 2024). "The 'World's Craziest Sport' Is Holding Its World Cup In The West Midlands In March". Secret Birmingham. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ↑ "Wolverhampton - Kabaddi World Cup 2025". kabaddiworldcup2025.com. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ↑ "Coventry - Kabaddi World Cup 2025". kabaddiworldcup2025.com. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ↑ "Birmingham - Kabaddi World Cup 2025". kabaddiworldcup2025.com. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ↑ "Walsall - Kabaddi World Cup 2025". kabaddiworldcup2025.com. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 "Standings - Kabaddi World Cup 2025". kabaddiworldcup2025.com. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
- 1 2 https://kabaddiworldcup2025.com/news-releases/day-seven-recap-23rd-march/
- ↑ "Watch KWC25 - Kabaddi World Cup 2025". kabaddiworldcup2025.com. 28 November 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
- ↑ Nag, Utathya (16 March 2025). "Kabaddi World Cup 2025: Indian teams look to defend titles in England - schedule, where to watch live". olympics.com. Retrieved 17 March 2025.