By Adala Anvith Reddy
OCA Youth Reporter from India
Nagoya, Japan, September 22,2026: The Indian men’s kabaddi team won their second straight Group A game at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Tuesday.
The defending Asian Games champions beat Korea 63-31 to follow up their opening day victory over Japan by the score of 49-24 at Tokai Citizen Gymnasium.
Coached by Balwant Singh and led by captain Sunil Kumar, the Indian team dominated from the start and led 34-14 at the break. India’s tally was made up of 23 out points, 7 bonus and 4 all out points to bring the score to a commanding 20-point lead at half-time.
Korea, captained by Lee Jangkun and coached by Eom Taedeok, tried to gain momentum during the second half and close the gap. Korea secured 13 out points and 4 bonus points for a 17-point second half.
However, the Koreans failed to get past the aggressive Indian defense. India’s prowess was on full display as they accumulated 10 bonus points and executed 2 super tackle points in the second period, adding 15 more out points and 2 additional all-out points.
India closed the second half with 29 points, cementing a massive 32-point victory margin to further cement themselves as the best in Asia.
Speaking after the match, India’s assistant coach BC Ramesh said: “We are very content with the performance that the Indian team has delivered in this match. We are working hard for the semi-finals and final. We are confident that we will be able to breeze past the preliminary rounds with ease and finish the group on top.”
When asked about the takeaways from the match, he said: “Today’s match wasn't exceptionally difficult for us, but our future opponents such as Iran or Pakistan might give us a tough competition throughout the tournament.
“But we are optimistic that we will be able to bag the gold medal and defend our title.”