Four years ago in Jakarta, the otherwise most sought-after Indian men’s kabaddi team were an embarrassed lot after they failed to secure the gold medal for the first time since the sport was introduced at the Asian Games in 1990.

They lost in the semi-finals to Iran, thereby ending a golden run that saw them bag seven titles between 1990 and 2018. The India women’s team also lost their gold medal at Jakarta (women’s kabaddi was introduced at the Asiad at Guangzhou 2010 where the Indian women won gold and then defended their title at Incheon 2014).