2016 Kabaddi World Cup (International Kabaddi Federation)

The 2016 Kabaddi World Cup was the third edition of the men's Kabaddi World Cup organised by the International Kabaddi Federation and contested from 7 to 22 October 2016 in Ahmedabad, India. Twelve countries competed in the tournament. India won their 3rd World Cup by defeating Iran 38–29 in the final.

2016 Kabaddi World Cup

Tournament information
Dates	7 October 2016–22 October 2016
Administrator	International Kabaddi Federation Government of Gujarat
Format	Standard style
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and Knockout
Host(s)	India
Venue(s)	The Arena, Ahmedabad
Participants	12
Final positions
Champions	India (3rd title)
1st runners-up	Iran
2nd runners-up	South Korea  Thailand
Tournament statistics
Matches played	33
Best Raider	Ajay Thakur (64 points)
Best Defender	PO Surjeet Singh (23 points)
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Participating countries

Team	Captain
Australia	Campbell Brown
Bangladesh	Md. Aruduzzaman Munshi
England	Someshwar Kaila
India	Anup Kumar
Iran	Meraj Sheykh
Japan	Masayuki Shimokawa
Kenya	David Mosambayi
Poland	Michał Śpiczko
South Korea	Dong Ju Hong
Thailand	Khomsan Thongkam
Argentina	Cesaro Roman
United States	Troy Bacon

Twelve teams competed in the tournament.^[1] Pakistan was originally scheduled to participate in the tournament, but was removed due to increased tensions between India and Pakistan. The International Kabaddi Federation argued that it was "not the right time to engage with Pakistan". The Pakistani team criticized the move, arguing that it was comparable to holding a FIFA World Cup without Brazil.^[2]

Venue

The tournament was hosted at The Arena (currently known as The Arena by TransStadia, pending the sale of official naming rights), a newly constructed convertible stadium in Ahmedabad. In its standard configuration, it operates as an outdoor football pitch capable of seating 20,000. The venue utilizes technology licensed from the British firm StadiArena, which allows a portion of the field to be partitioned into a 4,000-seat indoor arena, which is used for the tournament. The venue is a public-private partnership with India's Department of Tourism^[3][4]

Marketing

Emblem

The official emblem of the tournament was unveiled on 14 September 2016 by Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel. It incorporates a stylized lion, representing the Asiatic lions of Girnar. The use of a lion symbolizes the "ferocity of a Kabaddi defender and the agility of a raider", while its striped mane represents the worldwide participation in the tournament.^[5][6]

Broadcasting

Star Sports served as host broadcaster of the tournament. In a partnership with Voke, all matches were also streamed in 360-degree video with stereoscopic 3D options.^[7][8]

Countries	Broadcaster
Australia	Fox Sports
Canada	Commonwealth Broadcasting Network
India	Star Sports
Latin America	ESPN
Saudi Arabia	OSN Sports
United Kingdom	Sky Sports
United States	ESPN3;[9] on 8 August 2017, ESPNU carried an encore of the final as part of its programming stunt "ESPN8: The Ocho"—a marathon of obscure and unconventional sporting events.[10][11]

Group stage

Pool A	Pool B
India  Bangladesh  England Australia  South Korea Argentina	Iran  United States  Poland Kenya  Thailand  Japan

Pool points system:

Win	5 points
Draw	3 points
Loss (Score difference is less than or equal to 7)	1 point
Loss (Score difference is More than 7 points)	0 point

Pool A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	SF	SA	SD	Pts	Qualification
South Korea	5	5	0	0	256	148	108	25	Advance to knockout phase
India	5	4	0	1	286	112	174	21
Bangladesh	5	3	0	2	251	144	107	16
England	5	2	0	3	190	230	−40	10
Australia	5	1	0	4	146	311	−165	5
Argentina	5	0	0	5	161	345	−184	0

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7 October 2016 20:00 India  32–34  South Korea Report

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8 October 2016 19:00 England  18–52  Bangladesh Report

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8 October 2016 21:00 India  54–20 Australia Report

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9 October 2016 19:00 South Korea  68–42 Argentina

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10 October 2016 20:00 England  69–25 Australia

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11 October 2016 21:00 India  57–20  Bangladesh report

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12 October 2016 21:00 Australia 68–45 Argentina

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13 October 2016 21:00 Bangladesh  32–35  South Korea report

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14 October 2016 20:00 England  68–28 Argentina

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15 October 2016 19:00 South Korea  63–25 Australia

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15 October 2016 18:40 India  74–20 Argentina report

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16 October 2016 20:00 South Korea  56–17  England report

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17 October 2016 21:00 Australia 8–80  Bangladesh report

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18 October 2016 21:00 India  69–18  England report

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19 October 2016 20:00 Bangladesh  67–26 Argentina

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Pool B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	SF	SA	SD	Pts	Qualification
Thailand	5	4	0	1	247	165	82	20	Advance to knockout phase
Iran	5	4	0	1	212	141	71	20
Kenya	5	3	0	2	225	180	45	16
Japan	5	2	0	3	172	164	8	12
Poland	5	2	0	3	211	206	5	11
United States	5	0	0	5	104	315	−211	0

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7 October 2016 21:00 United States  15–52  Iran Report

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8 October 2016 20:00 Poland  48–54 Kenya Report

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9 October 2016 20:00 United States  19–45  Japan

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9 October 2016 21:00 Iran  64–23  Thailand

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10 October 2016 21:00 Poland  25–65  Thailand

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11 October 2016 20:00 Iran  33–28 Kenya

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12 October 2016 20:00 Poland  22–33  Japan

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13 October 2016 20:00 Thailand  53–21 Kenya

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14 October 2016 21:00 United States  29–75  Poland

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15 October 2016 20:00 Japan  34–38  Iran

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16 October 2016 19:00 Thailand  69–22  United States

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16 October 2016 21:00 Japan  27–48 Kenya report

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17 October 2016 20:00 Poland  41–25  Iran

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18 October 2016 20:00 United States  19–74 Kenya

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19 October 2016 21:00 Thailand  37–33  Japan

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Knockout stage

	Semi-finals					Final
	A1	South Korea	22
	B2	Iran	28
						SF1	Iran	29
						SF2	India	38
	B1	Thailand	20
	A2	India	73

Semi-finals

21 October 2016 20:00 South Korea  22–28  Iran report

21 October 2016 21:00 Thailand  20–73[12]  India report

Final

22 October 2016 19:45 Iran  29–38  India report

Statistics

Top Raiders

Player	Pts
Ajay Thakur	64
Khomsan Thongkham	56
Md Aruduzzaman Munshi	54
Temi Tope Adewalure	51
Pardeep Narwal	49

Top Defenders

Player	Pts
Surjeet	23
Fazel Atrachali	22
Manjeet Chhillar	22
James Odhiamboobi	22
Surender Nada	21

Awards

Best Raider	Ajay Thakur
Best Defender	Surjeet
Emerging Player	Jang Kun Lee
Emerging Team	Kenya
Best Referee	S.K. Monu