Bangladesh’s Smrity Akter was adjudged the best defender of the 2nd Women's Kabaddi World Cup 2025 which concluded at the Shaheed Suhrawardi Indoor Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka on Monday.
India emerged as the champions for second consecutive time while Bangladesh finished third.
This was the first time Bangladesh made it to the semifinals at the Women’s Kabaddi World Cup.
They finished fifth in the first edition held in India in 2012. The team set their target this time to improve their position which they did, thanks to brilliant efforts of the players like Smrity.
“There are no words to express how I’m feeling,” reacted Smrity to her ‘best defender’ award.
“I’m extremely happy that I’ve achieved something so big on home soil. Being able to win a medal for the country – there’s no greater joy than that. Our next target is to do even better,”
Smrity also talked about the differences between her team and the finalists.
“The main differences lie in technique, physicality and fitness. The way they execute things so easily – we still lack in those areas. We lack physical fitness. If we can improve these aspects, then Insha’Allah, we will be able to win. We will fight for the title in the next World Cup.”
The Bangladesh defender expressed content of her side’s performance in the tournament.
“We’ve been in camp for about nine months for this tournament. Considering that, we’ve done really well. We performed well in Iran. We played test matches in Nepal and did well. That’s why we were able to put up a fight against Chinese Taipei (in the semifinal).”
2nd Women's Kabaddi World Cup 2025 at a glance
Champions: India (Gold Medal)
Runners-up: Chinese Taipei (Silver Medal)
Third Position: Bangladesh (Bronze Medal)
Fourth Position: Iran (Bronze Medal)
Best Defender of the Tournament: Smrity Akter (Bangladesh)
Best Raider of the Tournament: Mim Lin (Chinese Taipei)
Most Valuable Player of the Tournament: Sanju Devi (India)