The Dubai Kabaddi Masters was a 6 nation
Kabaddi
Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...
Masters series which was held in the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
for 9 days from 22 June 2018 – 30 June 2018. This was also the inaugural edition of the tournament. This was the first international kabaddi sport event to be witnessed in the UAE. The tournament featured defending world champions
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
,
Republic of Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
,
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and
Kenya
Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
. India was regarded as the firm favourites to lift the inaugural Dubai Kabaddi Masters title. The tournament was hosted at the Al Wasl Sports Club in
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
.
The opening encounter of the tournament was held between arch rivals India and Pakistan, the first rivalry match between these two teams since the
2016 Kabaddi World cup. India scored against Pakistan 36–20 in the opening match.
Before the commencement of the opening match of the tournament on 22 June Friday, the Pakistan team was scheduled to be arrived on 21 June, Thursday but their arrival to Dubai was delayed due to visa issues. The
Indian Kabaddi team also played a warm-up match against their Asian rivals South Korea as a preparation to the tournament.
The current Indian Union sports minister and former professional shooter,
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (born 29 January 1970) is an Indian politician, Olympic medallist in shooting and retired colonel in the Indian Army. He is serving as a cabinet minister at the Industry & Commerce, Youth Affairs & Sports Department ...
invited as the chief guest on the eve of the opening clash between India and Pakistan.
The inaugural edition of the Dubai Kabaddi Masters was organised by the
International Kabaddi Federation
The International Kabaddi Federation (IKF), is an international governing body of the sport of kabaddi
Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In t ...
affiliating along with the
Dubai Sports Council and with
Star India
Disney Star (also known as JioStar), registered as JioStar India Private Limited, is an Indian media conglomerate joint venture owned with a share of 16.34% by Reliance Industries, 46.82% by Viacom18 and 36.84% by Disney India. On 14 Nove ...
network. The broadcast rights were offered to
Star India
Disney Star (also known as JioStar), registered as JioStar India Private Limited, is an Indian media conglomerate joint venture owned with a share of 16.34% by Reliance Industries, 46.82% by Viacom18 and 36.84% by Disney India. On 14 Nove ...
and the series was telecast through the
Star Sports Network.
India defeated Iran 44–26 in the final to clinch the inaugural edition of the Dubai Kabaddi Masters tournament.
Format
The six teams are divided into 2 groups of 3 teams. The teams in a group plays each other twice with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the knockout stages (semi-finals).
Group A
report
Group B
report
Schedule
1st Match
2nd Match
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3rd Match
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4th Match
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5th Match
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6th Match
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7th Match
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8th Match
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9th Match
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10th Match
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11th Match
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12th Match
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Knockout stage
Semi-final
Final
Statistics
Top Raiders
* Jang kun Lee (South Korea) 40 points
* Ajay Thakur (India) 34 points
* Rishank Devadiga (India) 28 points
Top Defenders
* Girish Ernak (India) 19 points
* Young Chan Ko (S.Korea) 16 points
* Surjeet Singh (India) 15 points
See also
*
Kabaddi at the 2018 Asian Games – Men's tournament
Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...
*
Kabaddi at the 2018 Asian Games – Women's tournament
Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...
References
{{International Kabaddi
2018 in kabaddi
2018 in Emirati sport
Kabaddi competitions in the United Arab Emirates
June 2018 sports events in Asia
International kabaddi competitions