India claimed the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship 2026 men's title with a dominant 54-20 victory over Sri Lanka in the final at Ahmedabad on 31 October 2026, completing a historic grand double after the Indian women's team had earlier beaten Uganda 35-15 in the women's final. The result makes India the first-ever men's champions in the tournament's history, capping an unbeaten run of eight wins from eight matches.

Individual Standouts

Aditya Shinde was the standout performer for India, finishing as the match's top scorer with a Super 10 — accumulating 10 raid points from 14 raids, including four bonus points. Bharat Hooda chipped in with eight raid points, all of them coming in the second half, completing seven raids without being tackled once. Pankaj Mohite contributed six points, while vice-captain Naveen Kumar added five.

On the defensive end, Yogesh Dahiya led with a High 5, completing all five successful tackles from five attempts, with every one of them coming in the first half. Captain Surjeet Singh, along with Shubham Shinde, Pravesh Malik, and Deepak Sankar, each contributed two tackle points apiece.

How the Match Unfolded

India asserted control early, leading 15-8 with 10 minutes of the first half still remaining after inflicting their first All-Out. They then outscored Sri Lanka 15-2 in the closing stretch of the half to go into the break with a commanding 30-10 lead, aided by a second All-Out in the final five minutes. Sri Lanka managed just two successful raids from 21 in the first half, while India's defence was near-impeccable, converting nine tackles from 10 attempts.

India added two more All-Outs after the interval — the last arriving in the final five minutes — to win the second half 24-10. In total, India executed 24 successful raids from 40, against Sri Lanka's seven from 41. India scored 30 raid points and 14 tackle points, inflicted four All-Outs, and crucially did not concede a single All-Out throughout the contest.

Sri Lanka's Struggles

For Sri Lanka, Maduwantha was the top scorer with six tackle points, including two Super Tackles. Ansaf and Viduranga contributed three points each. However, the Lankan raiders — who had been in sharp form during their semifinal win over Kenya — could produce only five raid points from 31 raids between them in the final. Sri Lanka also failed in seven of nine do-or-die raids, finishing with 11 raid points and nine tackle points.

India's Perfect Campaign

India's men's title arrived at the end of a flawless tournament run. They topped Group A with six consecutive wins — defeating England 46-26, Uganda 44-30, Malaysia 37-23, Nigeria 50-23, Tanzania 48-20, and Sri Lanka 45-24 in the league phase. A 56-27 demolition of Bangladesh in the semifinal set up the final rematch against Sri Lanka. Across the entire tournament, India scored 380 points and conceded 193, with no opponent managing to cross the 30-point mark against them.

Speaking after the final, top-scorer Aditya Shinde said: 'With more and more tournaments being held, it's great for the people of Ahmedabad too, and we received so much support from them. We hope everyone comes out to support us the same way in the competitions ahead. There will be a celebration, a really big one, and it's already going on here!'

India's historic double — the men's and women's titles both claimed on the same evening — cements the country's status as the dominant force in global kabaddi as the sport looks to expand its Commonwealth footprint.