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Indian Railways secured the 72nd Senior Men's National Kabaddi Championship 2026 trophy at the Sama Indoor Stadium, Vadodara, after beating Maharashtra 49-31 in the final.
Railways led by Sunil Kumar, the most successful PKL captain, prevailed over 29 teams divided into 8 pools, who played across 54 matches over the last four days, according to a release. On their road to the final, the Railways beat the likes of Chandigarh and Karnataka before claiming their final victory over a strong Maharashtra side led by Aslam Inamdar, one of the top players in the Pro Kabaddi League. The concluding day of the tournament featured four teams in action, starting off with two semifinal games played between Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, and Indian Railways and Chandigarh, respectively. After beating their respective opponents in the semifinals, Railways and Maharashtra advanced to the finals, which were dominated by the former with a strong all-round performance. Pankaj Mohite led the raiding unit with 12 raid points, while Ashu Malik, who also led Dabang Delhi K.C. to victory in PKL 12, contributed eight points. Railways' defence complemented the raiders effectively, finishing with 14 tackle points and applying sustained pressure on Maharashtra throughout the contest. Despite efforts from Shivam Patare and Aslam Inamdar, Maharashtra struggled to match Railways' intensity as the latter pulled away decisively to seal the championship by an 18-point margin. In the first semifinals earlier, Maharashtra registered a convincing 49-36 win over Uttar Pradesh. The team maintained control through most of the contest, with Aditya Shinde leading the raiding unit by scoring 12 raid points. Aslam Inamdar and Shivam Patare also complemented Aditya's efforts by scoring 11 and 8 points respectively. Along with the raiding unit, Maharashtra's defence played a key role in the outcome, finishing with 14 tackle points compared to Uttar Pradesh's eight, who were visibly struggling. The second semifinal between Indian Railways and Chandigarh ended in a 38-38 tie, with the former progressing to the final after registering a 7-4 victory in the tie-breaker. Ashu Malik was the top performer for the Railways with 10 points, while Narender Kandola added another 10 points. Chandigarh stayed in the contest through strong raiding efforts from Pawan Sehrawat, who scored 12 points, and Rakesh Singroha, who contributed seven points. Bhavani Rajput, who played for Goa, ended the raiding standings on top, with a total of 58 raid points, secured in 81 raids. Meanwhile, Shubham Shinde, who is a part of the champions team, secured the most number of tackle points--27.
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