India announces squad for 6th Asian Women's Kabaddi Championship

Sonali Shingate is set to lead the defending champions at the Asian Women’s Kabaddi Championship.

India announced their squad for the 6th Asian Women’s Kabaddi Championship 2025, which will take place in Tehran, Iran. The continental event, taking place for the first time since 2017, will be held from March 4th to 8th. In addition to India and the hosts Iran, the participating teams are Malaysia, Iraq, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Thailand.

This will be the sixth edition of the tournament. India has clinched the titles four times, including during the last edition in 2017 (Gorgan, Iran). South Korea won the trophy once, in 2016.

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India’s 12-member squad includes several big names and a few youngsters for the upcoming tournament. Raider Sonali Shingate, who recently led Indian Railways in a title-winning campaign at the Senior National Women’s Kabaddi Championship, will lead the squad. Her deputy will be all-rounder Pushpa Rana from Himachal Pradesh.

Interestingly, India chose to include a lot of raiding options – 7 in total. Apart from Shingate, the other names included are Pooja Kajila, Pooja Narwal, and Nidhi Sharma. They will have only four specialist defenders: Jyoti Thakur, Sakshi Sharma, Bhavna Devi, and Ritu. Vice-captain Pushpa will be expected to contribute in both offense and defense.

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The best team in the world by far, the Indian team, who also clinched the gold medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games 2022 (which incidentally marked the nation’s 100th medal at the continental extravaganza), will be firm favorites to clinch the title for the sixth time and extend their supremacy.

India’s squad for the Asian Women’s Kabaddi Championship:

Raiders: Sonali Shingate (Captain), Pooja Kajila, Pooja Narwal, Nidhi Sharma, Amrapali Galande, Neha Daksh, Sanju Devi

Defenders: Jyoti Thakur (Right Corner), Sakshi Sharma, Bhavna Devi, Ritu

All-Rounder: Pushpa Rana (Vice-captain)

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