Asian Kabaddi Championships 2017: Telecast, live streaming, date, start time and where to watch online

The 2017 Asian Kabaddi Championships will be held in Iran and will play host to some fantastic talents when the tournament commences on Friday, which will see ten teams representing their countries in both the men's and women's categories. With a lot of familiar names set to clash against each other, the competition is sure to witness some mouth-watering action.

India will undoubtedly start as firm favourites in the tournament which features the hosts Iran and teams from Pakistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, Japan, Iraq, Thailand apart from debutants Afghanistan and the Chinese Taipei. The teams will be divided into the groups as mentioned below.

Men's category

Group 1: India, Pakistan, Iraq, Japan and Afghanistan

Group 2: Iran, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkmenistan

Women's category

Group 1: India, Thailand, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Turkmenistan

Group 2: Iran, Sri Lanka, Japan, Iraq, Pakistan

How do the teams stack up?

At the conclusion of season five of the Pro Kabaddi League, a lot of players will be itching to shine for their country and while India boasts of a well-knit group led by talismanic raider Ajay Thakur who will be complemented by the likes of Pardeep Narwal and Rohit Kumar. The defence will be led by Surjeet, Surender Nada and his trusted team-mate Mohit Chhillar.

However, the highlight of the Fortunegiants campaign in the PKL was the form of its corner defenders and with Abozar Mighani and Fazel Athrachali set to take up those positions for Iran in addition to the likes of Meraj Sheykh, Abolfazl Maghsoudlou and Farhad in the mix, Iran also emerges as title contenders.

South Korea will be looking to Jang Kun Lee to lead the way while Pakistan will look to make a big statement with quality in their line-up. Other teams in the fray will also look to provide stiff competition and influence the sport of kabaddi in their country.

Where will it be telecasted?

The matches will be telecast in Iran on the channels Arabsat Iranian Channel 3 and Varzesh. However, sources close to proceedings have stated that the action is likely to be shown live on Instagram as well.