After an emphatic win against Iran in the 2004 World Cup final, India once again achieved the feat when they notched a win against the same rivals Iran. Iran was beaten by the hosts by a margin of 29-19 in 2007 and once again continued with their authority.
A total of 16 teams took part in this competition out of which 11 were Asian. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, India, Italy, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, United Kingdom, West Indies.
Sixteen teams competed in the tournament consisting of two rounds. In the first round, teams were divided into four pools of four teams each and followed round-robin format with each of the team playing all other teams in the pool once. Following the completion of the league matches, teams placed first and second in each pool advanced to a single elimination round consisting of four quarterfinals, two semifinal games, and a final.
In the semi-final India met Bangladesh to defeat them 48-22 while Iran were up against Japan. They grabbed a win by 43-18 to register a final berth. This was the second instance when the Kabaddi World Cup took place and India were clinical with their performance in the ultimate championship. They never really looked to struggle in clinching wins and were fascinating with the efforts. This was also India’s second title in Kabaddi World Cup history.
