Hosts Bangladesh finished third in the ongoing Second Women's Kabaddi World Cup 2025 following a 25-18 points defeat against Chinese Taipei in the second semifinal on Sunday at the Shaheed Suhrawardi Indoor Stadium in Mirpur.
Chinese Taipei will now face defending champions India, who beat arch-rivals Iran by 33-21 points in a thrilling first semifinal on Sunday, in the final of the World Cup at the same venue at 4:30 pm (local time).
Final: India vs Chinese Taipei
India, champions of the first edition, ended at the summit of the five-team Group A with a full 8 points. On the other hand, Chinese Taipei, who were eliminated from the group stage in the 1st Womens Kabaddi World Cup, reached the knockout stage as the toppers of the six-team Group B with a full 10 points.
Ahead of the final, India skipper Ritu Negi expressed her confidence about retaining the title.
"We have one match left to win the championship title. We have the confidence to defeat whoever comes into the final. We played against Chinese Taipei in the Asian Games," Ritu said.
India previously beat Chinese Taipei three times in two international competitions -- once in the World Cup in 2012 and twice in the 2022 Asian Games.
India coach Tejeswini Bai reflected on what this trophy would mean for her side. This trophy is very important for us. We want to return home with the cup. We are working hard, training well -- now we want the reward for that,” the coach said.
Chinese Taipei coach David Tsai, meanwhile, said that although their ultimate target is winning gold in the Asian Games next year, they are determined to do well in the final.
"We will try our best against India. We earlier played against India in the Asian Games. The result of the first game was a draw, and then the second game we lost by one point. We are here for getting the gold medal, but it's not our lone goal. Our goal is the 2026 Games.
Bangladesh Finish Third
Bangladesh, who had finished fifth at the inaugural Women’s World Cup in Patna in 2012, finished third due to their lesser-point-margin defeat in the semifinals compared to Iran.
While Iran had lost the first semifinal to India by a 12-point margin, Bangladesh’s defeat to Chinese Taipei was by seven points – allowing the hosts to finish two places higher than their position in the first edition.
Bangladesh captain Rupali Akter, playing the final international match of her career, failed to score in her opening raid.
Mst Srity Akhtar then conceded a point through a tackle, giving Chinese Taipei an early lead. Bangladesh opened their account in the third minute with a bonus point and wasted little time in responding. In the eighth minute, a successful raid from Sraboni Mallik put the hosts ahead 5-4.
Chinese Taipei, who were eliminated in the group stage of the inaugural edition, have shown dominance throughout this tournament. The Group B champions ended the first half leading 9-8. The margin could have been wider, but Bangladesh pulled off a superb tackle just before the interval to reduce the deficit.
Early in the second half, Bangladesh overturned the scoreline to take a 10-8 lead. Chinese Taipei struck back immediately to level it at 10-10. As the half progressed, their dominance grew. In the fifth minute, they inflicted an all-out on Bangladesh to move 15-12 in front. Maintaining their control for the remainder of the match, Chinese Taipei sealed a 25-18 points victory.
On Monday, Chinese Taipei will face India – champions of the 1st Women’s Kabaddi World Cup – in the final. India defeated Iran in the first semifinal.
A Queen-Like Farewell for Rupali
Kabaddi has its own traditions, and one of them is giving decorated players a grand farewell. On Sunday, Rupali Akter’s official retirement from the national team followed that very tradition. The 34-year-old bid farewell to the World Cup stage like a queen, crowned before she walked away.
Before the Bangladesh-Chinese Taipei semi-final at the Shaheed Suhrawardi Indoor Stadium, Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan placed the farewell crown on Rupali’s head. Bangladesh Kabaddi Federation’s General Secretary SM Nawaz Shohag draped her with a stole that read “Happy Retirement.”
Among the current Bangladesh squad, Rupali is the only player who also featured in the 2012 Women’s Kabaddi World Cup. She has been playing kabaddi since 2009, beginning that year with the Asian Junior Kabaddi Championship. In 2010, she represented the country at the South Asian Games held at home. The player from Jamalpur went on to represent Bangladesh in the next two editions of the SA Games in 2016 and 2019 as well.
Rupali also competed in the Asian Games in 2010, 2014, and most recently in 2018. On the domestic stage, she enjoyed considerable success representing Bangladesh Ansar. Now, her international journey comes to an end with this Women’s Kabaddi World Cup – the final tournament of her illustrious 16-year career, during which she also served as Bangladesh captain.
Speaking after the semifinal match, Rupali got a bit emotional. “The way the federation and my teammates gave me a farewell at the beginning of the match made me a little emotional,” the veteran said.
“I have been involved with kabaddi for a long time. There isn't any significant bad feeling or experience in my career. I won't be playing competitive kabaddi anymore, but I will stay involved with kabaddi in some way. This is my place of love,” she added.
Despite a defeat in her last match, Rupali took pride in the team's achievement in this tournament.
“Chinese Taipei are much stronger than us. They defeated Iran by a margin of 10 points. In contrast, we lost to them by 7 points only. It would certainly have felt good if we could have reached the final. However, we won the bronze and that is not a small achievement either,” Rupali opined.
India-Iran Rivalry
The first semifinal of the 2nd Women’s Kabaddi World Cup was a rematch of the inaugural edition’s final – India versus Iran. Thirteen years on, India maintained their supremacy, defeating Iran by 33-21 points in a thrilling contest to book their place in the final once again.
Back in 2012, at the inaugural Women’s World Cup held in Patna, India beat Iran 25-19 to claim the title. On Sunday, at the Shaheed Suhrawardi Indoor Stadium in Mirpur, Iran failed to score in their opening raid, while India picked up their first point in theirs. Iran were unsuccessful again in their second raid, and even a review could not save them, allowing India to increase their lead. Iran finally opened their account in the fourth minute, making it 3-1, and staged an impressive comeback to level the score at 5-5 by the eighth minute.
Towards the end of the first half, Iran adopted a more tactical approach. Instead of prioritising raid points, they focused on tackling India – who were reduced to five players – in search of an all-out. But they could not pull it off. The defending champions went into the break leading 15-10.
Both teams started cautiously in the second half. Iran claimed the first point of the half by tackling Sanju Devi, but India, the three-time Asian Games gold medallists, soon extended their lead to five points. As the match progressed, India tightened their grip further.
In the ninth minute of the half, India inflicted an all-out on Iran to go 27-17 ahead. Though Fatemeh & Co fought valiantly to stay in the contest, the technically superior Indian side ensured that they marched into the final to defend their crown. Iran, last edition’s runners-up, had to settle for bronze after the 33-21 defeat.
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