Although kabaddi is only popular in certain Asian countries, this sport has the potential to take over the world, if properly marketed. The Kabaddi World Cup 2020 is currently being prepared, and it will take place in Dubai.
Before we discuss the upcoming competition, let’s take a look at some of the previous ones. Read on!
World Cups in 2004, 2007, and 2016
The latest Kabaddi World Cup took place in 2016. However, there wasn’t a four-year break before that. Instead, the tournament before that was in 2007, while the initial World Cup took place back in 2004. In other words, the 2020 World Cup will only be the fourth kabaddi competition of this kind.
All three previous World Cups took place in India — the country that won all three competitions as well. What’s even more interesting is that they met with Iran in the finals every single time. This fact alone is enough to conclude which countries pay the most attention to this sport.
In 2004, Canada managed to win the bronze medal. To this day, Canada remains the only non-Asian country to have won a medal at a Kabaddi World Cup. However, Japan managed to get the bronze medal in 2007, while Thailand made the same success in 2016.
It’s also important to mention that women’s kabaddi competitions are getting more popular, as the fairer sex also enjoys playing the game. The year 2016 was essential for kabaddi as the first Women’s Kabaddi World Cup took place at the Patliputra Sports Complex, Kankarbagh, Patna.
What Do We Know About Kabaddi World Cup 2020 so Far?
In many sports, official international competitions are prepared and announced more than a year before the actual contest starts. However, that isn’t the case with kabaddi. Although the tournament is announced for 2020, there are no official dates yet. The only thing we know so far is that the host city is going to be Dubai.
That will be the first time ever that the World Cup is hosted outside of India. Perhaps, that’s something to take into account if you’re rooting for India since they will not have the home-court advantage anymore.
Which Teams Will Participate?
There are going to be a total of twelve teams taking part in the World Cup. In fact, there will be teams from every continent. Australia will obviously represent the Southernmost Continent, while Kenya will be the only country from Africa.
We’re used to European nations being the most prevalent in the majority of sports, but that’s not the case with kabaddi. The only two European countries that will have teams represent them in Dubai are Poland and England.
When it comes to Americans, they are not doing bad either. Although Canada will not compete this time, North America will be represented by the USA. When it comes to Latin America, the team from Argentina managed to make it to the list of the final twelve teams.
Naturally, the majority of teams come from Asia. Apart from India, which is once again seen as the favourite to win the tournament, Iran will also be there as the biggest threat to them. However, we shouldn’t take other teams out of the equation — Bangladesh, Japan, Korea, and Thailand will also come fully prepared for the upcoming competition.
Who’s Going to Win Kabaddi World Cup 2020?
Although there’s room for surprises in every sport, we have to say that India is probably most likely to win the 2020 World Cup again. Indian citizens enjoy kabaddi very much — it is the second most popular sport in the country after cricket.
