Ahmedabad, Oct 22 (IANS) India’s women and men begin their quest for the first Commonwealth kabaddi crown on Friday, facing Malaysia and England in successive matches as the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship opens at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad.

From October 23 to 31, 23 squads from 13 nations will contest 62 matches, 39 men’s and 23 women’s, starting with Kenya vs Singapore in Men’s Group B at 11:00 AM.

The 13 men’s teams are split into a seven-team Group A (India, Nigeria, Malaysia, Uganda, England, Tanzania, Sri Lanka) and a six-team Group B (Bangladesh, Kenya, Canada, Australia, Scotland, Singapore).

The 10 women’s teams play in two groups of five: India, Singapore, Nigeria, Uganda and Malaysia in Group A, and Bangladesh, Kenya, England, Scotland and Sri Lanka in Group B. Every team plays the others in its group once, and the top two advance. Group A winners meet Group B runners-up in the semifinals, and vice versa.

Captain Surjeet Singh and vice-captain Naveen Kumar lead a 14-man squad that also includes Yogesh Dahiya, Shubham Shinde, Deepak Sankar, Nitesh Kumar, Parvesh Bhainswal, Ajit Pawar, Sachin Tanwar, Pankaj Mohite, Bharat Hooda, Shivam Patare, Neeraj Narwal and Aditya Shinde.

After England on Friday, India face Uganda (October 24), Malaysia (October 25), Nigeria (October 26), Tanzania (October 27) and Sri Lanka (October 29), all at 8:30 PM.

India women face four group games in four days

Nidhi Sharma captains India’s women, with Ritu as vice-captain, in a 14-strong squad that includes Muskan Sharma, Sabhai Gadhavi, Priya, Champa Thakur, Riya Kumari, Suman Sahu, Jyothi, Ritu Mitharwal, Renuka Choudhary, Simran Kamboj, Anu Sen, Sakshi and Karthika Ramesh.

After Malaysia, they meet Singapore (October 24), Uganda (October 25) and Nigeria (October 26), all at 6:45 PM. The women’s group stage ends on October 28.

The semifinals are on Friday (October 30) -- the women at 6:00 PM and 6:45 PM, the men at 8:30 PM and 9:30 PM. The finals follow on Saturday (October 31), with the women at 7:30 PM and the men at 9:00 PM, under the theme “One Breath. One Raid. One Commonwealth.”

Organised by the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) with the approval of the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF), the championship also offers a first look at kabaddi’s Commonwealth potential as Ahmedabad prepares to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030.

--IANS

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