THE Midlands will be home to the world’s best Kabaddi players for the next week – as the World Cup starts TODAY!
Men and women from around the world will play in India’s second-biggest sport in Birmingham, Coventry, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
The Kabbadi World Cup 2025 is being brought to the UK THIS WEEK.
The World Cup will be held outside of Asia for the first time with India heavy favourites to win the competition.
The event, which is being hosted by World Kabaddi and the British Kabaddi League (BKL), is backed by the WMCA Commonwealth Games Major Events Legacy Fund.
Both England and Scotland have teams featuring.
The principal hosting organisation is the City of Wolverhampton Council, with assistance from the councils of Birmingham, Coventry, and Walsall.
The West Midlands will host the Kabbadi World Cup 2025
More than 60 matches are on offer for fans throughout the course of the seven-day competition, which starts today and runs until Sunday, March 23.
This is the second edition of the competition run by World Kabaddi with India running out winners in both the men and women’s final in 2019.
England did not send a team to Malaysia six years ago and will be hoping for home turf success in their World Cup debut campaign.
The format that will be used at the World Cup is known as ‘National’ or ‘Asian’ style.
While the game has been historically been played out in the open on fields or clay courts — competitors this week will be sticking to foam mats.
Kabaddi is widely played in India and Pakistan and is the national sport of Bangladesh and has been a medal sport at the Asian Games since 1990.
It was even a demonstration event in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Kabaddi is now played in over 50 countries with African nations like Kenya, Tanzania and Cameroon as well as other European sides from Poland, Italy and Germany represented.
The name ‘Kabaddi’ comes from the Tamil word “Kai-pidi” which means “holding hands”, but has many regional styles throughout South Asia such as Sadu Gudu, Main Acah and Galah Panjang.
These subcontinent roots are why organisers decided the West Midlands was the ideal place to host this edition of the World Cup.
World Kabaddi Federation president — and Brummie — Ashok Das said: “It’s a dream come true to see the World Cup come to the West Midlands.
“On a personal level it’s a way for me to give something back to my community here.
“I know how much people with South Asian origins will appreciate seeing part of their culture on the world stage.”
England captain Hardeep ‘Harry’ Singh told SunSport: “Not many people get the opportunity to play a World Cup in their own country – let alone in their home town!
“We want to show other countries that England’s here to win it and we’re not just here to participate.
“Once you have home advantage, then you have to go for the win.
“Hopefully we can bring it home now!”
What are the rules of Kabaddi?
Kabaddi is played on a 13 metres by 10m court
Each team shall consist of no more than 12 players with only seven taking to the field at any one time.
There are six officials looking after each Kabaddi match. The officials comprise of a referee, a scorer, two assistant scorers and two umpires.
The duration of the match is two halves of 20 minutes with a half time break of 5 minutes.
At the start of a Kabaddi match, there is a coin toss with the winner having the choice as to whether to have the first raid or not. In the second half of the match, the team that did not raid first shall begin the second half with a raid.
Each team has seven players, and they take turns sending one brave “raider” into the enemy’s territory.
The raider’s job is to tag as many opponents as possible while chanting “kabaddi, kabaddi” without stopping.
Essentially it’s like holding your breath while playing tag. If the raider tags someone and makes it back to their side, they score points.
But if the defenders catch the raider before they return, the raider is out.
Team with most points win.
Key dates and Schedule
Monday, March 17 (Wolverhampton)
Group Stage
11am – England vs Hungary (men)
12pm – India vs Italy (men)
1pm – Poland vs Wales (women)
3pm – Hong Kong vs Hungary (women)
4pm – Poland vs Germany (men)
5pm – Scotland vs Wales (men)
6pm – USA vs Hungary (men)
Tuesday, March 18 (Wolverhampton)
Group Stage
10am – Italy vs Wales (men)
11am – Germany vs USA (men)
12pm – India vs Wales (women)
3pm – England vs Hungary (women)
4pm – Poland vs Hungary (men)
5pm – India vs Scotland (men)
6pm – Hong Kong vs Wales (men)
Wednesday, March 19 (Coventry)
Group Stage
9am – Wales vs Poland (women)
10am – Hungary vs Germany (men)
11am – England vs Hong Kong (women)
1pm – England vs USA (men)
2pm – Scotland vs Italy (men)
3pm – India vs Hong Kong (men)
Thursday, March 20 (Birmingham)
Group Stage
10am – England vs Germany (men)
11am – USA vs Poland (men)
12pm – Hong Kong vs Scotland (men)
3pm – India vs Wales (men)
4pm – England vs Poland (men)
5pm – Hong Kong vs Italy (men)
Friday, March 21 (Walsall)
9.30am – Women’s semi-final 1
11.15pm – Women’s semi-final 2
12.30pm – Men’s quarter-final 1
2.15pm – Men’s quarter-final 2
3.30pm – Men’s quarter-final 3
4.45pm – Men’s quarter-final 4
Saturday, March 22 (Wolverhampton)
12pm – Women’s Third-place game
1.15pm – Men’s semi-final 1
2.30pm – Men’s semi-final 2
Sunday, March 23 (Wolverhampton)
12pm – Men’s third-place game
1.45pm – Women’s final
3.30pm – Men’s final
How to watch and stream the Kabaddi World Cup
The Kabaddi World Cup takes place from Monday, March 17 to Sunday, March 23.
The event takes place in four cities across the Midlands, with various matches in each.
There will be up to seven group games per day before the knockout stages start on Friday, March 21.
In the UK, there will be TV coverage on Star Sports – the channel is available to Sky customers at an additional cost.
It is also expected to be live streamed for free on BBC iPlayer.
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