New Delhi [India] September 28 (ANI): Indian men’s and women’s kabaddi team captains Sunil Kumar and Pushpa Rana credited teamwork, hard work and the guidance of coaches after India completed a golden sweep in kabaddi at the Asian Games 2026, with both teams defeating Iran in closely fought finals.
While the women's team edged past Iran 37-34 to successfully defend their title, the men's side produced a second-half comeback to prevail 40-34 and clinch a record ninth Asian Games gold in the discipline.
Both men’s and women’s kabaddi contingents received a grand welcome at the Delhi Airport on Sunday night.
Speaking to ANI, Sunil Kumar credited the team’s unity and collective effort for their Asian Games gold medal victory, saying that a captain alone cannot win a tournament. He added that he will continue striving to win more gold medals for Team India.
"No captain can win a tournament alone; it requires a team. Our team played cohesively as a unit, and that is why we won the gold. I will keep winning gold for Team India," he said.
Meanwhile, Indian women’s kabaddi team captain Pushpa Rana expressed her happiness over the warm welcome received by the team and said the moment of hearing the national anthem after their gold medal triumph was indescribable. She attributed the victory to their hard work, belief in the team’s abilities, and execution of strategies planned with their coaches.
“We are very happy, and we literally thought that when we return home, we would receive such a welcome. (On the national anthem playing after the gold medal win) We cannot explain that feeling. We felt extremely good, and we had worked very hard for this. We knew our team would perform well because of the effort we had put in. In the end, the entire team executed what we had decided and what our coaches had instructed us to do,” she said.
The head coach of the Indian men’s kabaddi team, Balwan Singh, said the victory belonged to the entire nation and credited the support of citizens, the government, the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI), and everyone involved. He expressed confidence in India’s strength and said the team would continue winning in the future.
“Wow, what a moment! This is the victory of the countrymen. This is the victory of the entire nation. This is the victory of Bharatvarsh, the victory of kabaddi. We will win in the future as well; we will always win. Our country is strong, and our kabaddi is strong. The support from all the citizens was incredible. The people supported us, the government supported us, SAI supported us, the AKFI supported us, and everyone supported us,” he said.
Indian women’s kabaddi team player Raj Rani also expressed delight over winning her first gold medal and praised the team’s performance. She expressed happiness over both the men’s and women’s teams winning gold and said they would continue striving for more gold medals in the future.
“It feels very good; we got the gold. It's my first time, and our team played very well. And we feel very good that our team, both boys and girls, got the gold; we feel very good. Very, very good. I would just like to say that we will bring gold in the future as well,” she said. (ANI)
“Played cohesively as a unit”: India’s kabaddi captains Sunil, Pushpa hail golden sweep at Asian Games
