Kenya and Sri Lanka won their men's and women's matches on opening day, while Scotland's Brar scored 25 points without a single unsuccessful raid.
Kenya and Sri Lanka won both their men’s and women’s matches at the Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad on Friday, 23 October, while Scotland and Uganda also made emphatic starts. In the men’s competition, Kenya beat Singapore 48-28, Sri Lanka beat Tanzania 48-21 and Scotland routed Australia 59-30, with Scotland raider Brar producing the standout individual performance.
Scotland’s 59-30 win over Australia was built on one of the cleanest raiding displays of the day. Brar scored 25 points, including 23 raid points from 23 raids, and did not make a single unsuccessful raid. Every time he crossed the midline, he came back with something.
He had support. Captain Ryan McGallagly added 12 points and Remy Friel contributed five. Scotland dominated both departments, finishing with 40 raid points to Australia’s 25 and eight tackle points to one, and they also came out on top in the all-out battle.
Australia’s single tackle point told the story of their defensive struggles against Brar. In attack, Jasmeet Grewal was their most productive raider with eight points from just three raids, an efficient return in limited opportunities. Divjot Singh and Kuldeep Singh took four points each.
Kenya’s men opened with a 48-28 win over Singapore, led by captain James Kamweti, who scored 19 raid points. Stephen Adongo added seven points and Samuel Wafula chipped in with eight, half of them from tackles, giving Kenya a contribution at both ends of the mat.
The margins were clear across the board. Kenya finished with 32 raid points to Singapore’s 20 and 12 tackle points to six. They inflicted all-outs on Singapore without conceding one themselves, which kept the scoreboard moving steadily away from their opponents.
Muhammad Aidil Mutalib was Singapore’s best performer with nine raid points, but he had too little help against a Kenyan side that controlled the match through its captain’s raiding.
Sri Lanka were comfortable 48-21 winners over Tanzania, driven by raiders Milinda Chathuranga and Viduranga, who scored 11 and 10 points respectively. Chathuranga’s 11 raid points came from 17 raids. Sri Lanka outscored Tanzania 25-9 in raid points and repeatedly inflicted all-outs, while Santhushta added five tackle points in defence.
Tanzania’s defence was the part of their game that kept them in touch. Hafidhi Ali, captain Masudi Omary and Ibrahim Mashaka each took four tackle points, a spread of contributions that showed their cover and corner players could hold their own. Juma Sultania led their raiding with seven raid points.
The problem was at the other end. Tanzania made 17 unsuccessful raids, and that cost them dearly against a Sri Lankan side able to turn defensive stops into a growing lead.
Both Kenya and Sri Lanka also won their women’s matches on the day, making them the two nations to come away with a clean sweep across the men’s and women’s draws. Uganda were the other side singled out for an emphatic start, though detailed scores from the women’s fixtures and Uganda’s match were not reported.
For Kenya, Sri Lanka and Scotland, the opening results set a confident tone in Ahmedabad, while Singapore, Tanzania and Australia were left with ground to make up as the championship continues.
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Sri Lanka and Singapore both won 50-28 in the men's event, while Kenya edged Sri Lanka and Scotland's women beat England at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex.
India's women meet Malaysia and the men take on England on day one in Ahmedabad, as 23 teams from 13 nations chase the first Commonwealth kabaddi titles.
Naveen Kumar is vice-captain and Nidhi Sharma leads the women as 13 nations and more than 400 athletes gather in Ahmedabad for the inaugural event from 23 October.
