Ahmedabad, Oct 29 (IANS) Sabhai Gadhvi, a kabaddi player from Mota Bhadia village in Kutch district, has become the first woman from Gujarat to earn a place in the Indian women’s team, which has reached the semi-finals of the ‘Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship 2026’ being held in Ahmedabad.
Gadhvi, who has also been named Best Defender in one of the matches, is competing in the championship being held from October 23 to 31.
Her selection follows years of training and participation in state and national-level competitions.
Her journey began at Mota Bhadia Primary School No. 2, where principal Mayur Joshi and teacher Haresh Pandya recognised her talent and prepared her for competitions, including the state government’s Khel Mahakumbh.
After completing primary education, she joined Navjivan Vidyalaya in Morbi, where she trained under coaches Vijaykumar Chaudhary and Narsinh Rabari. In 2016, Gadhvi participated in the state-level Khel Mahakumbh in Vadodara, where her school team finished fourth.
The following year, the team secured second place at the competition held in Bhavnagar. In 2018, she appeared for the District Level Sports School (DLSS) examination conducted by the Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG) and secured the first rank across the state.
She subsequently trained as a physical training (PT) player under the DLSS scheme from 2018 to 2022. Her performances and medal wins at national-level competitions led to her selection under the Centre of Excellence (COE) scheme in 2022.
In 2024, she was selected for the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Gandhinagar, where she continues to train.
Her achievements include a bronze medal in the Under-14 category and a gold medal in the Under-17 category at the Khel Mahakumbh, as well as a gold medal in the Under-19 category of the School Games Federation of India (SGFI).
She has also won gold medals in state-level sub-junior and senior competitions. Besides competing in various national tournaments, Gadhvi has participated in the Indian training camp for the 20th Asian Games.
Her journey from a village school playground to the international championship highlights the role of grassroots sports development programmes in identifying and nurturing talent.
“Sabhai Gadhvi’s journey from the playground of Mota Bhadia to the global stage of Commonwealth kabaddi demonstrates the success of grassroots sports development initiatives such as DLSS. With proper guidance and unwavering hard work, the daughters of Gujarat can also reach for the skies,” officials said.
The Indian women’s team has advanced to the semi-finals of the championship, with its next match awaited.
–IANS
mys/dan
