Kabaddi World Cup 2016 kicks off from October 7 in Ahmadabad

Kabaddi World Cup 2016 kicks off from October 7 in Ahmadabad Follow @merinews

12 September, 2016

The eighth edition of the Kabaddi World Cup will be held in Ahmadabad, Gujarat between October 7-22. Last year the event scheduled to be held in Punjab had to be cancelled due to unrest in the state.

The event is being organised by the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF). Kabaddi has been steadily gaining popularity in India after Pro Kabaddi League has become a super hit and a rage in the nation. India has so far hosted all seven previous editions of the Kabaddi World Wide.

The first Kabaddi World Cup was held in 2004. The second edition was organized three years later in 2007. The third Kabaddi World Cup took place in 2010. From 2011 onwards, the event has been held annually.

This year it was announced during Season 4 of Pro Kabaddi League that the Kabaddi World Cup will be held between October 7-22 in Ahmadabad, Gujarat. The event is being hosted at the state-of-the-art multi-purpose stadium – The Arena, developed by TransStadia.

12 countries, including the hosts India are participating in the event. These countries are United States of America, Thailand, United Kingdom, Australia, Iran, Poland, Argentina, Bangladesh, South Korea, Kenya and Japan.

Star Sports is the official broadcaster for the Kabaddi World. In India, all matches will be telecast on the Star Sports Network with live streaming available on its official website and on the Hot Star App.

The format of the tournament has been kept in standard style. The tournament will have the round-robin leg first and then the knockouts.

India has won all the previous seven editions of the Kabaddi World Cup. India beat Pakistan in the last edition of the event to win their seventh gold medal. Most silver medals (4) have been won by Pakistan, while Bangladesh and Canada have won two bronze medals each.