Indian kabaddi will look to regain its glory days at the Asian Games as the action begins at the Xiaoshan Guali Sports Centre on Monday.
What's the Indian men's kabaddi team looking like?
It's a fairly young squad, led by the nation's most sought-after kabaddi star: Pawan Sehrawat. The team is the same one that won the Asian Kabaddi Championships in June, with the only change being Akash Shinde replacing Mohit Goyat.
The one big name missing in India's 12-man squad is Pardeep Narwal, but his exclusion is not surprising considering his recent form.
How about the women's team?
India is fielding a new-look women's team that has only four members from the 2018 team. The squad, training under coach Tejasvini in Mumbai, has not had any international exposure recently. Unlike the men, the women have not even played any tournaments recently, with the last one being the nationals back in March.
Indian men's full kabaddi team for the 2023 Asian Games: Pawan Kumar Sehrawat, Nitesh Kumar, Parvesh Bhainswal, Sunil Kumar, Nitin Rawal, Surjeet Singh, Vishal Bharadwaj, Sachin Tanwar, Arjun Deshwal, Aslam Inamdar, Akash Shinde and Naveen Kumar Goyat.
Indian women's full kabaddi team for the 2023 Asian Games: Akshima, Jyoti, Pooja, Pooja, Priyanka, Pushpa, Sakshi Kumari, Ritu Negi, Nishi Sharma, Sushma Sharma, Snehal Shinde and Sonali Shingate.
Who are India's competitors?
There's only one real competitor for the Indian men's and women's teams: Iran.
The Iranian men's team, led by U Mumba coach Gholamreza, is a force to reckon with. Many of their players ply their trade in the Pro Kabaddi League and are well-versed with the Indians' style of play. Their key players include Mohammadreza Shadloui and Fazel Atrachali.
The Indian men had also uncharacteristically lost to South Korea at the 2018 Games, but they are unlikely to face stiff competition from them this time as most of their star players such as Jang Kun-Lee and Dong Geon-Lee are not part of the team.
The Iranian women's team has also improved by leaps and bounds and will want to retain their gold. Coached by India's Shailaja Jain, the team had a training camp in Mumbai last month, where they also played a bunch of friendlies with local teams.
The Indian women's team will also have to look out for the Thailand team, which is coached by former PKL player Tin Phonchoo.
What are Indian kabaddi's medal chances?
The answer is simple: beat Iran and you have a clear shot at the gold. And that applies to both, the men and the women.
As seen in the Asian Kabaddi Championship, where all teams but Iran fielded their best teams, there is little competition at the Asian level [or even the world, for that matter]. Sparring a freak loss, the Indian men should have no trouble in easing past the group stage and setting up a mouthwatering gold medal clash against Iran.
The women's field is slightly more competitive, but that should not stop the Indian team from wrestling away the gold from Iran.
Any other Indians coaching foreign teams?
One more: Srinivas Reddy.
Srinivas, who had coached Telugu Titans in the PKL, is in charge of the Bangladesh men's team.
What is the format of kabaddi at the Asian Games?
The teams will be divided into two groups and a round-robin format will be employed where each nation plays against every other nation in its group. At the end of the group stage, the top two teams in each group will advance to the semifinals.
Much like boxing, reaching the semifinals assures a country of a bronze medal.
Indian kabaddi's history at the Asian Games
India won gold in every edition of the Asian Games until 2018 - such was their dominance. The men's team won seven successive golds since 1990, while the women's team bagged the top prize in 2010 and 2014. However, that incredible run came to an end in 2018 when both teams lost out on the yellow metal to Iran. The Indian men's kabaddi team won a disappointing bronze, while the women claimed silver.