Asian Games Kabaddi Gold Team Honoured at Rail Bhawan

The Union Minister for Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, met the players of the Indian women kabaddi team at Rail Bhawan in New Delhi on 16 October 2026. The squad had taken the gold medal in kabaddi at the 2026 Asian Games, which were hosted by Aichi-Nagoya in Japan. Several members of the side are employees of Indian Railways, and the minister praised them for lifting the national flag on the continental stage.

How the final was won

India faced Iran in the title match on 26 September 2026 and finished ahead 37-34. The scoreline stayed tight to the closing raids, and the result allowed India to hold on to the Asian Games kabaddi crown it already owned rather than win it back. Defending a continental title is counted as a harder task than taking one for the first time, because every rival team prepares against the holder.

Who led the side

Pushpa Rana captained the gold-winning team and Neeta Moreshwar Dadwe worked as its head coach. The minister told the players that their discipline, resolve and quality of play had brought honour to the country, and that young sportswomen across the railway network would look to them as an example.

Railway sportspersons who met the minister

• Neeta Moreshwar Dadwe, head coach, South Central Railway
• Ritu Negi, South Central Railway
• Pooja, Northern Railway
• Pinky Roy, South Central Railway
• Sonali Vishnu Shingate, Western Railway
• Raj Rani, Western Railway

The Railway Sports Promotion Board

Indian Railways runs its sporting programme through the Railway Sports Promotion Board, a body with a long record of finding and backing athletes. Players on its rolls have carried India colours at the Olympic Games, World Championships, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. The railway model offers a salaried job alongside a sporting career, so an athlete can train seriously without giving up a livelihood, and that mixture of institutional support and steady employment has kept the organisation among the biggest suppliers of talent to Indian teams.