The inaugural edition of Dubai Kabaddi Masters kickstarted in the United Arab Emirates in style on Friday, June 22 with world champions India beating Pakistan in the opening match.
The Indian team, led by Tamil Thalaivas skipper Ajay Thakur, had no trouble disposing of their arch rivals by a comfortable margin of 36-20.
Meanwhile, Asian powerhouse Iran made light work of South Korea in the second match of the opening day to get their campaign off to a good start.
What is Dubai Kabaddi Masters?
The Kabaddi Masters is a six-team invitational tournament held by the Kabaddi World Federation. It will run between June 22 and June 30.
The ongoing inaugural edition of the tournament is held in Dubai, featuring world champions India, runners-up Iran, Pakistan, South Korea, Argentina and Kenya.
All matches will be played at the Al Wasl Sports Club in Dubai. This is also the first time the UAE is hosting an international kabaddi tournament.
What is the tournament format?
The six teams are drawn into two groups of three each. Each team will play the other two in their group twice in the group stage (double-legged round robin).
Group A: India, Kenya, Pakistan
Group B: Iran, South Korea, Argentina
Top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be played on June 29. The championship match will be played on the following day.
How to watch the matches live on TV, online
Star Sports will provide live television coverage of the match India. Hindi commentary will be available on Star Gold. Kabaddi fans in Dubai can catch all the live action on Dubai Sports TV.
The live stream will be available on Hotstar.
Full schedule and Results
| Matches | Date | Time | Scoreline | Result |
| India vs Pakistan | June 22 | 6:30 pm local, 8 pm IST | 36-20 | India |
| Iran vs South Korea | " | 7:30 pm local, 9 pm IST | 35-20 | Iran |
| Iran vs Argentina | June 23 | 6:30 pm local, 8 pm IST | TBD | TBD |
| India vs Kenya | " | 7:30 pm local, 9 pm IST | TBD | TBD |
| South Korea vs Argentina | June 24 | 6:30 pm local, 8 pm IST | TBD | TBD |
| Pakistan vs Kenya | " | 7:30 pm local, 9 pm IST | TBD | TBD |
| Iran vs South Korea | June 25 | 6:30 pm local, 8 pm IST | TBD | TBD |
| India vs Pakistan | " | 7:30 pm local, 9 pm IST | TBD | TBD |
| Iran vs Argentina | June 26 | 6:30 pm local, 8 pm IST | TBD | TBD |
| India vs Kenya | " | 7:30 pm local, 9 pm IST | TBD | TBD |
| South Korea vs Argentina | June 27 | 6::30 pm local, 8 pm IST | TBD | TBD |
| Pakistan vs Kenya | " | 7:30 pm local, 9 pm IST | TBD | TBD |
| Semi-final 1 | June 29 | 6::30 pm local, 8 pm IST | TBD | TBD |
| Semi-final 2 | " | 7:30 pm local, 9 pm IST | TBD | TBD |
| Final | June 30 | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Complete Squads: Kabaddi Masters 2018
India
Ajay Thakur (C), Manjeet Chhillar, Girish Maruti, Ernak, Surjeet, Raju Lal Choudhary, Surender Nada, Mohit Chhillar, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Sandeep Narwal, Pardeep Narwal, Rohit Kumar, Rishank Devadiga, Rahul Chaudhari, Monu Goyat.
Pakistan
Nasir Ali, Waqar Ali, Mudassar Ali, Qaisir Abbas, Kashif Razzaq, Muhammad Nadeem, Sajjad Shaukat, Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Safian, Abid Hussain, Akhlaq Hussain, Wasim Sajjad, Muhammad Nisar, Muzammal Hussain.
Iran
Hadi Tajik, Mohammad Amin Nosrati, Amirhossein Mohammad Maleki, Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh, Mohammad Ghorbani, Mohammad Esmaeil Maghsoudlou Mahalli, Mohammad Kazem Naseri, Mohammadreza Shadloui Chianeh, Emad Sedaghatnia, Afshin Jafari, Mohammad Taghi Paein Mahali, Mohammad Malak, Saeid Ghaffari, Hamid Mirzaei Nader.
Argentina
Federico Gramajo, Rafael Acevedo, Gabriel Sacchi, Mariano Pascual, Jorge Barraza, SebastianDesocio, Roman Cesaro, Nahuel Lopez, Javier Camera, Franco Castro, Matias Martinez, Sebastian Canencia, Nahuel Villamayor.
Kenya
David Mosambayi, Ogak Odhiambo, Chrispine Otieno, Obiero Victor, Obilo James, Erick Ocheing Oduor, Nicholas Mutua, Embuga George, Elphas Otieno, James Kamweti, Patrick Nzau, Izaac Njoroge, Esau Otieno, Kevin Wire.
South Korea
Lee Dong Geon, Eom Tae Deok, Lee Jae Min, Lee Jang Kun, Hong Dong Ju, Kim Dong Gyu, Park Chan Sik, Jo Jae Pil, Kim Seong Ryeol, Park Hyun Il. Kim Gyung Tae, Ko Young Chang.
