India Book the Kabaddi Final as Iran’s 83 Points Loom

India beat Thailand 66-28 in the Asian Games men’s kabaddi semi-final on Friday and reached a ninth gold-medal match. The defending champions led 37-18 at the break at Tokai Citizen Gymnasium in Aichi and added 29 more points after it.

A day earlier, Iran had beaten this same Thailand side 83-27. That score, not the 38-point margin on Friday, is the number Saturday still has to answer.

Thailand Forced an All-Out, Then the Mat Tilted

India led 7-1 inside the first five minutes. The defence of Jaideep Dahiya, Sumit Sangwan, Rahul Sethpal and captain Sunil Kumar forced the first all-out of the match in that opening burst, and Thailand, in a men’s semi-final for the first time, had to chase from there.

The chase had a pulse. Raider Theeradet Chaisit landed a three-point super raid, added two more successful raids, and Thailand then all-outed India to cut the gap to 24-14. Supawit Somrat’s back hold on Ayan Lohchab was part of that spell. For a few minutes the contest looked like a match rather than a count.

Devank Dalal, on his first Asian Games, kept finding bonus points in the deep corners, and Arjun Deshwal joined him. India cleaned the mat again before half-time and went in 37-18 up. Twelve of India’s 15 bonus points came in that first half, which is how a side that had just been all-outed still left the break 19 points clear.

THE 66-28 SPLIT

• India: 43 outs, 15 bonus points and 8 all-out points.
• Thailand: 20 outs, 5 bonus points, 2 all-out points and 1 technical point.
• Halves: 37-18 at the break, then 29-10 after it.
• Late score: India hit 50-23 with 11 minutes left.

Chaisit stayed Thailand’s one reliable raid. Aslam Inamdar, the all-rounder, started winning points at both ends in the second half, and India forced two more all-outs. Four all-outs in all, at two points each, produced those eight all-out points. The Sports Authority of India posted the same 43-15-8 split after the whistle.

Asian Games 2026 | Kabaddi (Men's Team | Semifinals)

INTO THE FINAL!

Sunil Kumar-led Men's Team join the Women's Kabaddi Team to reach the final of their respective events

India secure a convincing 66-28 (Outs – 43 | Bonus – 15 | All-Out – 8) victory over Thailand in the… pic.twitter.com/BGb1ssOCeH

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 25, 2026

Thailand take bronze as losing semi-finalists. There is no third-place match in this tournament.

83-27 Was the Number Posted on Thursday

Group B had already shown what a full raid unit does to this Thailand side. On Thursday morning Iran won 83-27, a 56-point beating that left Friday’s 38-point win looking smaller the moment the two results sat together.

THE TWO THAILAND MATCHES

Thailand had won three of four group games, including 48-45 over Pakistan and 59-48 over Nepal, before Iran blew the doors off. India still had to play the match in front of them, and they did, but the 66 is not a record against this opponent at these Games. Iran’s 83 is.

That gap is why a 38-point semi-final is a poor predictor of Saturday. Thailand had one raider who could hurt India. Iran will bring a unit that already scored 76 against Nepal, 67 against Malaysia, 83 against Thailand and 51 against Pakistan.

Four Wins Each and Two Different Scoreboards

Both finalists-in-waiting came out of the group stage 4-0. The scoring was not close to the same. India’s four group totals were 49, 63, 48 and 37. Iran’s were 76, 67, 83 and 51. Add them and Iran scored 277 group points and conceded 113; India scored 197 and conceded 101.

INDIA’S FIVE RESULTS

• 21 September: 49-24 over hosts Japan.
• 22 September: 63-31 over the Republic of Korea.
• 23 September: 48-25 over Bangladesh.
• 24 September: 37-21 over Chinese Taipei.
• 25 September: 66-28 over Thailand in the semi-final.

The tightest of those India games was the 16-point win over Chinese Taipei, who finished second in Group A on score difference after Bangladesh, Japan and Chinese Taipei all took four points. If Chinese Taipei beat Iran later on Friday, India will have already measured that side. If Iran win, the measure is Hangzhou and Thursday’s 83.

Pakistan, with a medal in every men’s kabaddi tournament since 1990, went home empty after 51-30 against Iran. Ten teams started. The podium is now India, the other semi-final winner, Thailand, and whoever loses Friday afternoon.

India Have Won Eight of Nine Men’s Titles

Men’s kabaddi has been on the Asian Games programme since Beijing 1990. India have taken eight of the nine men’s golds, and Friday put them in a ninth final in 10 editions. The hole in that list is Jakarta 2018, when they lost to Iran in the semi-finals and took bronze, and Iran then beat the Republic of Korea 26-16 in the final.

MEN’S GOLD SINCE BEIJING

1. 1990, Beijing: India beat Bangladesh for the first gold after the sport joined the Games.
2. 1994 to 2006: India win in Hiroshima, Bangkok, Busan and Doha.
3. 2010 and 2014: India beat Iran in both finals, in Guangzhou and Incheon.
4. 2018, Jakarta: Iran take the title; India finish third after a 23-24 group loss to Korea, their first Asian Games defeat, and the semi-final loss to Iran.
5. 2023, Hangzhou: India reclaim it with a 33-29 final over Iran.

Hangzhou was not a 66-28. Iran led early, India all-outed them just before half-time for a 17-13 lead, and the sides sat 28-all with a minute left. Pawan Sehrawat, then captain, won a four-point raid in the scramble, play stopped for more than an hour over a lobby-area call, and Naveen Kumar closed it. Sehrawat said he was proud of “getting the Asian Games Gold back after nine years.”

That is the opponent the 83-27 on Thursday still points toward. Chinese Taipei can change the draw. They cannot change the history.

A Debutant Raider and a Bench of PKL Captains

Dalal is 23. The Asian Games is his first multi-sport assignment for India, and he arrived as Pro Kabaddi League Season 12’s second-highest scoring raider with 271 raid points. Before the squad left for Aichi-Nagoya he treated selection as a job, not a weight.

This is my first time going to an Asian Games. I am happy for myself, my family and my coach. I am happy for everyone. Now that I am going, my responsibilities have increased. I will have to bring gold for India. If India has chosen me, I will have to do it.

Devank Dalal, India raider, before the Aichi-Nagoya Games

He also drew a hard line between pressure and the work. “You don’t have to take pressure. Pressure and responsibility are two different things. Here, there is only responsibility, not pressure,” he said. “If you take pressure, you won’t be able to play.” Friday’s bonus-heavy first half was that brief, played out on the mat.

Sunil Kumar captains a 12-man group built around Pro Kabaddi Season 12’s top two raiders, Ayan Lohchab on 316 raid points and Dalal on 271, with Deshwal on 209 and Ashu Malik as the fourth raid option. Pawan Sehrawat is vice-captain. Inamdar, who was in the Hangzhou gold side with Sehrawat, Deshwal and Sunil Kumar, said the camp felt like a league of captains because so many of them lead PKL franchises.

Only those four Hangzhou gold medallists are back. The other eight, including Dalal, Lohchab, Jaideep Dahiya and Gaurav Khatri, are on debut. Head coach Balwan Singh is back after a decade away. The raid list is young; the job on Saturday is old.

Saturday’s Gold Medal Match Is at 2:30 p.m.

The men’s final is at 2:30 p.m. IST on Saturday, 26 September, against the winner of Chinese Taipei and Iran, who were set for 3:45 p.m. IST on Friday. India already beat Chinese Taipei 37-21 in the group. A final against Iran would be a replay of Hangzhou’s close 33-29 win against Iran, not a replay of Friday.

The Indian women are in their own final at 9:30 a.m. IST on Saturday after a 48-24 semi-final win over Nepal. They have reached every women’s gold-medal match since the event began in 2010 and have three golds and the 2018 silver. Both Indian sides have now locked at least silver, with no bronze-medal playoff in either draw.

India’s men’s side has not lost at these Games. Iran have not lost either, and they have scored faster against the one common opponent. Friday put India where this team almost always stands, in the gold-medal match. Saturday decides whether 66-28 was a step or a warning.