Around 30 teams and more than 400 players are expected at the Sir M Vishveshvaraiah Stadium from 7 to 10 January, with Indian Railways defending their title.
Karnataka will host the 73rd Senior National Kabaddi Championship, with the men’s national title to be decided at the Sir M Vishveshvaraiah Stadium in Mandya from Thursday, 7 January to Sunday, 10 January 2027, according to Olympics.com.
The four-day tournament is the premier domestic competition in Indian kabaddi. Around 30 teams, comprising more than 400 players, are expected to take part, drawn from States and Union Territories across the country along with leading institutional teams.
Indian Railways will start in Mandya as defending champions. They won the 72nd edition in Vadodara, Gujarat, which was played from 24 to 27 February, beating Maharashtra 49-31 in the final to lift the title.
That campaign featured Sunil Kumar, described as the most successful captain in Pro Kabaddi League history, who played a key role in guiding Railways to the championship. A margin of 18 points in a national final underlined how strong the institutional side was in Vadodara, and every other team in the draw will be measured against them in January.
The championship is organised under the aegis of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI). All matches will be played on mats, and each team will be allowed a maximum of 14 players.
If the format from the previous edition is followed, the participating teams will be split into multiple pools. The top two teams from each pool will advance to the knockout stage once the group matches are completed. With roughly 30 teams squeezed into four days, the pool stage leaves little room for a slow start: a single heavy defeat can decide whether a side reaches the knockouts.
The senior nationals have become an important platform for young players looking to break through. Several names who featured in earlier editions have gone on to make their mark in the Pro Kabaddi League, among them two-time PKL Most Valuable Player Naveen Kumar, Ashu Malik, Aslam Inamdar and Sumit Sangwan.
The tournament’s reach extends to the national team as well. Several players who were part of India’s gold medal-winning squads at the 2026 Asian Games and at the recently concluded Commonwealth Kabaddi Championships came through the ranks of the Senior National Kabaddi Championship.
That gives the Mandya edition added weight for players on the fringes of franchise and national selection. A strong showing in front of the scouts and selectors who follow the nationals has long been one of the clearest routes from state kabaddi to the bigger stage.
State associations and institutional units will now finalise their squads of up to 14 players ahead of the opening day on 7 January. The pool draw and match schedule have not yet been announced. Railways will begin their title defence in Mandya, with the final due on Sunday, 10 January 2027.
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