Women's Kabaddi Team Defends Asian Games Gold, Beating Iran 37-34

India's women kept their Asian Games kabaddi title on Saturday, beating Iran 37-34 in the final at Aichi-Nagoya. It's India's third gold of the 2026 Games, after the women's cricket team and the mixed 10m air pistol pair.

The margin tells you how the match went. India had beaten Iran 37-23 in the group stage on 23 September. In the final they scored the same 37, but Iran got 11 more. With about a minute left, India's defence tackled Iran's Aynaz, which all but settled it. Sanju Devi was the standout for India.

India were unbeaten all week: 42-21 against Bangladesh, 37-23 against Iran, 50-25 against Japan, then 48-24 against Nepal in the semi-final. Head coach Neeta Dadwe said after the Iran group game that "this is the first time we have won by more than 10 points", adding that earlier meetings had always been close. The final went back to type.

Iran is also the reason India's record isn't perfect. India won gold in 2010 and 2014, beating Iran 31-21 in the Incheon final, then lost the 2018 final to Iran 24-27 and took silver. They won it back in Hangzhou, edging Chinese Taipei 26-25. This is their fourth gold in five editions of the event, and their fifth final in a row.

Pushpa Rana captained the side, her first time leading India at an Asian Games. The men's team play Iran in their own final today at 2:30 PM IST.