Ahmedabad: Indian kabaddi takes its biggest leap onto the world stage on Friday as the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship 2026 gets underway at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Naranpura, Ahmedabad. The nine-day tournament, which runs from October 23 to October 31, 2026, is the first kabaddi championship organised for Commonwealth nations — and it arrives in a city that is set to host the Commonwealth Games 2030.
The scale of the inaugural edition underlines just how seriously the sport’s administrators are treating this opportunity. Thirteen nations will field 23 squads across the men’s and women’s competitions, with more than 400 athletes competing in 62 matches — 39 in the men’s draw and 23 in the women’s draw. The tournament is being organised by the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) and has been approved by the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF), giving the event the official sanction the sport needs to press its case for a place at future multi-sport Games.
The participating nations reflect kabaddi’s growing footprint beyond its South Asian heartland. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be joined by Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, England, Scotland and Australia — a genuinely global field that includes strong representation from Africa and the diaspora.
India’s squads were introduced at a curtain-raiser press conference on October 21, where the official jersey, tournament anthem, logo and mascot were unveiled alongside the team captains. Surjeet Singh will lead the men’s team with Naveen Kumar as his vice-captain, while the women’s team will be captained by Nidhi Sharma with Ritu as vice-captain. The unveiling ceremony was designed as a statement of intent: kabaddi is presenting itself not as a regional pastime but as a broadcast-ready international product.
The competition format will build to a dramatic climax. Both semifinals are scheduled for October 30, with the finals on October 31 set to crown the first-ever Commonwealth champions in both the men’s and women’s categories. For the players, the chance to become the first names on the honour roll is a rare one; for the federations, a cleanly run tournament could become the strongest evidence in kabaddi’s long-running bid for inclusion in the Commonwealth Games.
AKFI General Secretary Jitendra Pran Singh Thakur described the championship as a proud moment for Indian kabaddi, and the symbolism is hard to miss. The sport was born on Indian soil, and its first Commonwealth championship is being played in the city that will welcome the Commonwealth Games 2030. Organisers are treating the next nine days as a showcase of Ahmedabad’s readiness — its venues, its logistics and its appetite for big international sport.
For fans, the draw is simpler. India’s men and women open their campaigns in front of a home crowd, with the world’s best watching. Nine days, 62 matches and two first-ever Commonwealth titles at stake — kabaddi’s biggest stage yet is set, and Ahmedabad is ready to roar.
