International Kabaddi Federation announces power-packed schedule for 2024-25 season

The International Kabaddi Federation has announced the schedule for the sports' activities for the 2024-25 season.

The Bangabandhu Cup will kickstart this season in Dhaka, with the participation of Senior Men's teams in April-May. The last edition saw Bangladesh prevailing over Chinese Taipei 42-28.

The fourth edition of the Africa Cup is set to take place in Kenya in June. A total of 13 teams will participate in the tournament.

The Junior Women's World Cup and Beach World Cup (men & women) are scheduled to be played in September.

2024

S.no	EVENT	DATE	VENUE	CATEGORY
1	Bangabandhu Cup	⁠April/May (not confirmed)	Dhaka	Senior Men
2	Military Kabaddi Championships (CISM)	May - June (not confirmed):	Iran	Senior Men
3	Africa Cup	June 23-30	Kenya	Senior Men
4	Beach EURO CUP (World Cup Qualifier)	August 23-25	Poland	Senior Men & Women
5	Beach World Cup	September	Iran	Senior Men
6	Junior Women’s World Cup (u20)	September	India	Junior Women’s
7	Asian Indoor Games	November		Senior Men & Women

In January 2025, Senior Men's World Cup will take place, with the venue yet to be announced. Moreover, the Women's World Cup will be conducted in 2026.

Further, the 3rd Junior World Cup (boys) is slated to be played in Iran in March. Last year, India beat Iran, 41-32 to become the champion.

2025

S.no	EVENT	DATE	VENUE	CATEGORY
1	WORLD CUP	End of January- every 2 years		Senior Men
2	3rd Junior World Cup (u20)	March	Iran	Junior Boys

It will be interesting to see how all teams fare in the power-packed schedule of the apex organization.

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India have won all 3 Kabaddi World Cups

There have been only three Kabaddi World Cups so far, in 2004, 2007 and 2016.

The first-ever World Cup in 2004 was played in Mumbai and saw participation from 12 countries following withdrawals from Bangladesh & Pakistan. India secured wins in all three games of the group stage. Then, they prevailed over Bangladesh (39-19) in the semi-final and Iran (55-27) in the final to clinch the title.

A total of 14 teams participated in the 2007 edition. India beat Malaysia (68-21) in the quarter-final, Bangladesh (48-22) in the semi-finals and Iran (29-19) in the final to win the trophy.

The 2016 edition saw 12 countries going against each other in Ahmedabad. Although Pakistan was expected to compete in the tournament, they were removed due to rising tensions between both countries.

India secured four victories in five group stage games, while only losing 32-34 to the table-toppers South Korea.

In the semi-finals, India beat Thailand 73-20, and followed up with a 38-29 victory over Iran to secure their third title. Ajay Thakur (64 points) and Surjeet (29 points) were the best raiders and defenders, respectively in the tournament.