2016 Kabaddi World Cup: Participating nations, stats and other details

The eighth edition of Kabaddi World Cup will be held in India in October. International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) will organise the event. In India the domestic tournament, Pro Kabaddi League, has been a super hit and now the sport is looking to gain popularity internationally.

India has hosted all the seven previous editions of the Kabaddi World Cup. The first Kabaddi World Cup was played in 2004. The second one took place after a gap of three years in 2007. The third edition was played in 2010. From 2011 onwards, the event was held annually. However, last year, the Kabaddi World Cup was cancelled due to unrest in Punjab.
This year during the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 4 it was announced that Kabaddi World Cup will take place from October 7 to 22 in Ahmadabad, Gujarat. The event will be held in the state-of-the-art multi-purpose stadium- The Arena, developed by TransStadia. Here are few details about the Kabaddi world cup-

Participating Nations

12 countries including hosts India will take part in the Kabaddi World Cup. United States of America, Canada, England, Australia, Iran, Poland, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Korea, Japan and Kenya are the other nations. Poland will participate in the Kabaddi World Cup for the first time while Kenya will appear for the second time.

Broadcast Rights

Star Sports has the official broadcast rights of Kabaddi World Cup 2016. In India, the matches will be telecast on Star Sports Network including its official website and Hot Star App.

Format

The format of the Kabaddi World Cup will be standard style. The tournament will have round-robin leg first and then the knockouts.

Previous Winners

India is the only team to win the Kabaddi World Cup(s). No surprises India has won all the seven previous editions and thus has seven gold medals against its name. In the final of last season, India defeated Pakistan to win the gold medal. Pakistan has won the most silver medals-4. Bangladesh and Canada have won two bronze medals each.