A small but significant step in sports diplomacy and people-to-people friendship between China and India was marked by the participation of Hong Kong China in the 2025 Kabaddi World Cup, which was held from March 17-23, 2025.
Kabaddi originated in India some 4-5,000 years ago. It is a contact sport between two teams on opposite halves of a field or court where individuals take turns to chase and try to touch members of the opposing team without being captured by them. The name is derived from the Tamil word “Kai-pidi,” which means “holding hands.” It is the second most popular and viewed sport in India after cricket and is particularly popular in Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat. It is also the national sport of Bangladesh and is widely played in Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and elsewhere in South Asia. In all, it is currently estimated to be played in some 50 countries and has been an official sport at the Asian Games since 1990.
This year’s World Cup was also significant for being the first to be held outside Asia. Games were played in the cities of Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Coventry and Walsall in England’s West Midlands region. The previous World Cup was held in Melaka, Malaysia.
Bhupinder Gakhal, a City of Wolverhampton Council cabinet member for resident services, welcomed the tournament: “This is a proud moment for our city. We aim to use the World Cup to introduce kabaddi to more schools, colleges, and universities across the West Midlands, inspiring our young population to be more active.”
Hosted by World Kabaddi and delivered by the British Kabaddi League (BKL) on behalf the England Kabaddi Association, and sponsored by the Irish sports betting company Paddy Power, the key objectives of the World Cup included:
- Promoting diverse cultures and bringing communities together through Kabaddi.
- Celebrating the sporting heritage of black minority ethnic (BAME) communities.
- Encouraging physical activity and exercise among minority ethnic groups.
- Delivering coaching and learning programs for local schools through Kabaddi.
A total of 16 national teams were expected to participate, but this was reduced to 10 due to visa and other issues.
With the Hong Kong Kabaddi Association of China having just been founded in 2018, their teams were unsurprisingly not ranked among the favourites.
Playing in Group B, on March 18, the men’s team lost 49-68 to Wales, 21-73 to India on March 19, and 28-70 to Scotland on March 20. Also on March 20, they defeated Italy, 53-50. They lost 23-89 to England in the Quarter Finals.
The Women’s team fared better, advancing to the semi-finals. On March 17, they defeated Hungary 73-20 and lost 39-45 to England on March 19. They lost 15-53 to India in the semi-final. In the match to decide third place, they defeated Wales 75-14.
We embed below a short video clip where a member of the women’s team reacts to taking third place in the tournament and a detailed interview from four years ago with Wai-man (Wyman) Tang, the key founder of organized kabaddi in Hong Kong on what inspired him and his hopes for the sport’s development in China’s special administrative region.
You can read more about the Hong Kong Kabaddi Federation here.