Asian Games 2026: India Women’s Kabaddi Team Enters Final After Beating Nepal 48-24

In the Asian Games 2026 Indian women’s kabaddi team has made its entry in the finals by defeating Nepal with 48-24.  In the semi-finals played at Aichi-Nagoya the defending champions Team India started building pressure on Nepal from the very first minute. Nepal showed strong resistance at some moments but Indian team maintained 24-point margin and secured their spot at the finals.

India Makes a Strong Start

In the opening 5 minutes India made a lead of 9-5. Indian raiders started testing the defense of Nepal, while Team Nepal was also trying to create a defensive pressure. The tempo of the game was high from the very beginning of the match. India made a comfortable advantage but Nepal was also not ready to give up either. The defense attempted some aggressive tackles to stop the Indian raiders and even managed to stop them from getting points at key moments. India made a lead of 9-5 in the opening phase which provided them an early momentum and that was the important factor of the match.

Nepal Shows Resistance

Nepal challenged India at various moments during the match. An important moment of the match was when Nepal super tackled the India raider Sonali and stopped her from crossing the mid line. From this moment on Nepal tried to slow down the Indian attack temporarily. Even after lacking behind in points Nepal tried hard to comeback and cover the lead. At one stage India was only ahead by 5 points and the score was 15-10.

Ganga Ghimire also did an amazing four-point raid from Team Nepal. She was able to reach the mid line even after the pressure of ankle holds, after the raid there was a long discussion and checking for the raid and eventually Nepal was awarded 4 raid points. After this point Nepal tried to reduce the deficit.

India Takes Command Before Half-Time

Indian team again started gaining control over the game after a wonderful resistance from Nepal. The combination of Indian raid and defense built up a lot of pressure on the players of Nepal. By the end of half-time India achieved a commanding lead of 31-17 over Nepal. Sanju Devi and Sonali made an important contribution to the strong first-half performance of India.

Scoreline of 31-17 was clearly depicting the dominance of Team India, but the possibility of Nepal’s comeback was still technically possible. The second half objective was clear for Team India – Protect the lead and finish the match without any kind of unnecessary pressure.

India Dominates the Second Half

Indian women’ team gave no opportunity to Nepal for a comeback from the very first minute of second half. Indian side maintained their lead comfortably and controlled the whole momentum of the match according to them. Nepal tried to reduce the gap through continuous attacks and tackles but the experience of Indian players helped in handling the situation effectively. After an advantage of 31-17 at half-time, India continued a consistent performance at the second half.

As the match reached its final minutes, India secured the lead even more. Team Nepal tried to fight back but they were -not able to make a required comeback in front of Indian defense and raiding unit. Finally, India won by and secured their ticket to the finals as the defending champions.

 India Continues its Unbeaten Campaign

The victory against Nepal is another unbeaten result for Team India in this tournament. Indian women’s kabaddi team showed an impressive performance at the group stages too. India started the campaign with a victory over Bangladesh with 42-21. After that The Indian team defeated Iran with 37-23. In the final match of group stage India beat Japan with 50-25.

That is how India won all three matches in Group A and entered the semi-finals undefeated. In the semi-finals after defeating Nepal with 48-24 the unbeaten run of India continued to the finals.

Pushpa Rana Leads the Team

In Asian Games 2026 Pushpa Rana is leading Indian women’s kabaddi team as captain, while Sonali Shingate is the vice-captain. Team has a combination of experienced players and young talents. The 12-member squad of India consist of:

Defending Champions Eye Another Gold

India is Asian Games 2022 women’s kabaddi defending champion and in 2026 edition their objective is to defend the title. India won the gold by defeating Chinese Taipei with 26-25 at Hangzhou to win the gold medal in 2022.

Now in 2026 India has secured their final spot where they will face the winner of semi-final between Chinese Taipei and Iran. This means that Indian team has another chance to compete for the gold at Asian Games.

When is the Women’s Kabaddi Final?

Asian Games 2026 women’s kabaddi gold medal match is on September 26, 2026 at 9:30 AM IST. There is no bronze medal match in kabaddi competition. Both the teams that lose in semi-finals get the bronze medal whereas the winners advance into the finals to win the gold medal.

India One-Step Away from Gold

After their victory over Nepal with 48-24 India is just one match away from the gold medal in Asian Games 2026. After three consecutive wins and semi-final victory against Nepal India has maintained an unbeaten campaign till now. Now the focus will be on September 26 where the defending champions will enter the court to retain the title.