# 2016 Kabaddi World Cup (International Kabaddi Federation)

The 2016 Kabaddi World Cup was the third edition of the men's Kabaddi World Cup organised by the International Kabaddi Federation and contested from 7 to 22 October 2016 in Ahmedabad, India. Twelve countries competed in the tournament. India won their 3rd World Cup by defeating Iran 38–29 in the final.

## Participating countries

| Team | Captain |
| Australia | Campbell Brown |
| Bangladesh | Md. Aruduzzaman Munshi |
| England | Someshwar Kaila |
| India | Anup Kumar |
| Iran | Meraj Sheykh |
| Japan | Masayuki Shimokawa |
| Kenya | David Mosambayi |
| Poland | Michał Śpiczko |
| South Korea | Dong Ju Hong |
| Thailand | Khomsan Thongkam |
| Argentina | Cesaro Roman |
| United States | Troy Bacon |
Twelve teams competed in the tournament. Pakistan was originally scheduled to participate in the tournament, but was removed due to increased tensions between India and Pakistan. The International Kabaddi Federation argued that it was "not the right time to engage with Pakistan". The Pakistani team criticized the move, arguing that it was comparable to holding a FIFA World Cup without Brazil.

## Venue

The tournament was hosted at The Arena (currently known as The Arena by TransStadia, pending the sale of official naming rights), a newly constructed convertible stadium in Ahmedabad. In its standard configuration, it operates as an outdoor football pitch capable of seating 20,000. The venue utilizes technology licensed from the British firm StadiArena, which allows a portion of the field to be partitioned into a 4,000-seat indoor arena, which is used for the tournament. The venue is a public-private partnership with India's Department of Tourism

## Marketing
### Emblem

The official emblem of the tournament was unveiled on 14 September 2016 by Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel. It incorporates a stylized lion, representing the Asiatic lions of Girnar. The use of a lion symbolizes the "ferocity of a Kabaddi defender and the agility of a raider", while its striped mane represents the worldwide participation in the tournament.

## Broadcasting

Star Sports served as host broadcaster of the tournament. In a partnership with Voke, all matches were also streamed in 360-degree video with stereoscopic 3D options.
| Countries | Broadcaster |
| Australia | Fox Sports |
| Canada | Commonwealth Broadcasting Network |
| India | Star Sports |
| Latin America | ESPN |
| Saudi Arabia | OSN Sports |
| United Kingdom | Sky Sports |
| United States | ESPN3; on 8 August 2017, ESPNU carried an encore of the final as part of its programming stunt "ESPN8: The Ocho"—a marathon of obscure and unconventional sporting events. |

## Group stage

| Pool A | Pool B |
| India Bangladesh England Australia South Korea Argentina | Iran United States Poland Kenya Thailand Japan |
Pool points system:
| Win | 5 points |
| Draw | 3 points |
| Loss (Score difference is less than or equal to 7) | 1 point |
| Loss (Score difference is More than 7 points) | 0 point |

### Pool A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | SF | SA | SD | Pts | Qualification |
| South Korea | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 256 | 148 | 108 | 25 | Advance to knockout phase |
| India | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 286 | 112 | 174 | 21 | Advance to knockout phase |
| Bangladesh | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 251 | 144 | 107 | 16 | |
| England | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 190 | 230 | −40 | 10 | |
| Australia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 146 | 311 | −165 | 5 | |
| Argentina | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 161 | 345 | −184 | 0 | |
* 7 October 2016 20:00
| India | 32–34 | South Korea |
| | Report | |
* 8 October 2016 19:00
| England | 18–52 | Bangladesh |
| | Report | |
* 8 October 2016 21:00
| India | 54–20 | Australia |
| | Report | |
* 9 October 2016 19:00
| South Korea | 68–42 | Argentina |
* 10 October 2016 20:00
| England | 69–25 | Australia |
* 11 October 2016 21:00
| India | 57–20 | Bangladesh |
| | report | |
* 12 October 2016 21:00
| Australia | 68–45 | Argentina |
* 13 October 2016 21:00
| Bangladesh | 32–35 | South Korea |
| | report | |
* 14 October 2016 20:00
| England | 68–28 | Argentina |
* 15 October 2016 19:00
| South Korea | 63–25 | Australia |
* 15 October 2016 18:40
| India | 74–20 | Argentina |
| | report | |
* 16 October 2016 20:00
| South Korea | 56–17 | England |
| | report | |
* 17 October 2016 21:00
| Australia | 8–80 | Bangladesh |
| | report | |
* 18 October 2016 21:00
| India | 69–18 | England |
| | report | |
* 19 October 2016 20:00
| Bangladesh | 67–26 | Argentina |

### Pool B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | SF | SA | SD | Pts | Qualification |
| Thailand | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 247 | 165 | 82 | 20 | Advance to knockout phase |
| Iran | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 212 | 141 | 71 | 20 | Advance to knockout phase |
| Kenya | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 225 | 180 | 45 | 16 | |
| Japan | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 172 | 164 | 8 | 12 | |
| Poland | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 211 | 206 | 5 | 11 | |
| United States | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 104 | 315 | −211 | 0 | |
* 7 October 2016 21:00
| United States | 15–52 | Iran |
| | Report | |
* 8 October 2016 20:00
| Poland | 48–54 | Kenya |
| | Report | |
* 9 October 2016 20:00
| United States | 19–45 | Japan |
* 9 October 2016 21:00
| Iran | 64–23 | Thailand |
* 10 October 2016 21:00
| Poland | 25–65 | Thailand |
* 11 October 2016 20:00
| Iran | 33–28 | Kenya |
* 12 October 2016 20:00
| Poland | 22–33 | Japan |
* 13 October 2016 20:00
| Thailand | 53–21 | Kenya |
* 14 October 2016 21:00
| United States | 29–75 | Poland |
* 15 October 2016 20:00
| Japan | 34–38 | Iran |
* 16 October 2016 19:00
| Thailand | 69–22 | United States |
* 16 October 2016 21:00
| Japan | 27–48 | Kenya |
| | report | |
* 17 October 2016 20:00
| Poland | 41–25 | Iran |
* 18 October 2016 20:00
| United States | 19–74 | Kenya |
* 19 October 2016 21:00
| Thailand | 37–33 | Japan |

## Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| A1 | South Korea | 22 | | | |
| B2 | Iran | 28 | | | |
| B2 | Iran | 28 | SF1 | Iran | 29 |
| | | | SF2 | India | 38 |
| B1 | Thailand | 20 | SF2 | India | 38 |
| A2 | India | 73 | | | |

### Semi-finals

* 21 October 2016 20:00
| South Korea | 22–28 | Iran |
| | report | |
* 21 October 2016 21:00
| Thailand | 20–73 | India |
| | report | |

### Final

* 22 October 2016 19:45
| Iran | 29–38 | India |
| | report | |

## Statistics
### Top Raiders

| Player | Pts |
| Ajay Thakur | 64 |
| Khomsan Thongkham | 56 |
| Md Aruduzzaman Munshi | 54 |
| Temi Tope Adewalure | 51 |
| Pardeep Narwal | 49 |

### Top Defenders

| Player | Pts |
| Surjeet | 23 |
| Fazel Atrachali | 22 |
| Manjeet Chhillar | 22 |
| James Odhiamboobi | 22 |
| Surender Nada | 21 |

## Awards

| Best Raider | Ajay Thakur |
| Best Defender | Surjeet |
| Emerging Player | Jang Kun Lee |
| Emerging Team | Kenya |
| Best Referee | S.K. Monu |