India's men's kabaddi team wrote another golden chapter on Saturday, defeating arch-rivals Iran 40-34 in a pulsating final at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan — and BJP MP Anurag Thakur, the former Union Minister who once held the sports portfolio, was among the first to salute the achievement.

Thakur called it a 'double gold day for India in Kabaddi' after the women's team also clinched the top honour, describing the twin victories as a 'proud moment for the nation.' His post captured the mood of a country watching its athletes deliver back-to-back gold in the same discipline on the same day.

A final that turned on clinical second-half execution

The men's final was anything but comfortable early on. Iran kept the contest tight through the first half, their raiders and defenders refusing to concede ground to a side widely expected to dominate. India's coaching staff made adjustments at the break, and the second half told a completely different story — sharp raids and disciplined defensive rotations opened up the scoreline, with India eventually pulling clear to win 40-34.

Thakur singled out the squad's composure as the defining quality: 'Special mention to the entire squad for staying composed under pressure and delivering when it mattered most.' In a sport where momentum can swing in a single raid, keeping nerve in a tight final against Iran — India's most consistent continental rival — is the mark of a mature unit.

Nine golds and counting — India's unbroken kabaddi dominance

This victory is India's 9th Asian Games gold medal in men's kabaddi. The sport was introduced to the Asian Games programme and India has treated it as its own territory ever since, winning at consecutive editions including 2018 in Jakarta. The consistency is not accidental: a thriving domestic professional league has kept the talent pipeline full, and the national setup has benefited from that depth at every major tournament.

Iran has repeatedly been the side closest to ending that run. The two nations have met in high-stakes knockouts across multiple editions, with Iran developing a technically refined game plan specifically aimed at disrupting India's trademark raiding patterns. The six-point margin in Aichi-Nagoya suggests India had enough in reserve even when tested.

Women's gold makes it a historic double

The men's win was made sweeter by the women's team also topping the podium on the same day — a rare kabaddi double at a single Asian Games edition. For a sport rooted in the Indian subcontinent, having both national teams stand at the top of the continental podium simultaneously carries weight well beyond the medal tally. It signals that the programme, from grassroots development to elite coaching, is firing on all cylinders across both disciplines.

For Anurag Thakur, who spent years championing India's sports infrastructure as Union Minister, Saturday's results were personal as much as patriotic — a return of the investment he and successive administrations have made in taking Indian sport seriously at the continental stage.

Nine down. The question now is not if India will defend in the next cycle — it is by how much.