# Dubai Kabaddi Masters

The Dubai Kabaddi Masters was a 6 nation Kabaddi Masters series which was held in the United Arab Emirates for 9 days from 22 June 2018 – 30 June 2018. This was also the inaugural edition of the tournament. This was the first international kabaddi sport event to be witnessed in the UAE. The tournament featured defending world champions India, Pakistan, Iran, Republic of Korea, Argentina and Kenya. India was regarded as the firm favourites to lift the inaugural Dubai Kabaddi Masters title. The tournament was hosted at the Al Wasl Sports Club in Dubai.
The opening encounter of the tournament was held between arch rivals India and Pakistan, the first rivalry match between these two teams since the 2016 Kabaddi World cup. India scored against Pakistan 36–20 in the opening match.
Before the commencement of the opening match of the tournament on 22 June Friday, the Pakistan team was scheduled to be arrived on 21 June, Thursday but their arrival to Dubai was delayed due to visa issues. The Indian Kabaddi team also played a warm-up match against their Asian rivals South Korea as a preparation to the tournament.
The current Indian Union sports minister and former professional shooter, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore invited as the chief guest on the eve of the opening clash between India and Pakistan.
The inaugural edition of the Dubai Kabaddi Masters was organised by the International Kabaddi Federation affiliating along with the Dubai Sports Council and with Star India network. The broadcast rights were offered to Star India and the series was telecast through the Star Sports Network.
India defeated Iran 44–26 in the final to clinch the inaugural edition of the Dubai Kabaddi Masters tournament.

## Format

The six teams are divided into 2 groups of 3 teams. The teams in a group plays each other twice with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the knockout stages (semi-finals).

## Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | SF | SA | SD | Pts |
| India | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 175 | 71 | +104 | 20 |
| Pakistan | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 122 | 118 | +4 | 10 |
| Kenya | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 75 | 183 | -108 | 0 |
Qualified for semi-finals Eliminated
report

## Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | SF | SA | SD | Pts |
| Iran | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 177 | 98 | +79 | 20 |
| South Korea | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 173 | 107 | +66 | 11 |
| Argentina | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 92 | 237 | -145 | 0 |
Qualified for semi-finals Eliminated
report

## Schedule
### 1st Match

* 22 June 2018 18:30
| India | 36-20 | Pakistan |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club

### 2nd Match

* 22 June 2018 19:30
| Iran | 35-20 | South Korea |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club

### 3rd Match

* 23 June 2018 18:30
| Iran | 54-24 | Argentina |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club

### 4th Match

* 23 June 2018 19:30
| India | 48-19 | Kenya |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club

### 5th Match

* 24 June 2018 18:30
| South Korea | 72-16 | Argentina |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club

### 6th Match

* 24 June 2018 19:30
| Pakistan | 43-21 | Kenya |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club

### 7th Match

* 25 June 2018 18:30
| Iran | 31-27 | South Korea |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club

### 8th Match

* 25 June 2018 19:30
| India | 41-17 | Pakistan |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club

### 9th Match

* 26 June 2018 18:30
| Iran | 57-27 | Argentina |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club

### 10th Match

* 26 June 2018 20:50
| India | 50-15 | Kenya |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club

### 11th Match

* 27 June 2018 18:30
| South Korea | 54-25 | Argentina |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club

### 12th Match

* 27 June 2018 19:30
| Pakistan | 42-20 | Kenya |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club

## Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| B1 | Iran | 67 | | | |
| A2 | Pakistan | 11 | | | |
| A2 | Pakistan | 11 | SF1 | Iran | 26 |
| | | | SF2 | India | 44 |
| A1 | India | 29 | SF2 | India | 44 |
| B2 | South Korea | 22 | | | |

### Semi-final

* 29 June 2018 18:30
| Iran | 67-11 | Pakistan |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club
* 29 June 2018 19:30
| India | 29-22 | South Korea |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club

### Final

* 30 June 2018
| Iran | 26-44 | India |
| | report | |
* Al Wasl Sports Club

## Statistics
### Top Raiders

* Jang kun Lee (South Korea) 40 points
* Ajay Thakur (India) 34 points
* Rishank Devadiga (India) 28 points

### Top Defenders

* Girish Ernak (India) 19 points
* Young Chan Ko (S.Korea) 16 points
* Surjeet Singh (India) 15 points