The Kabaddi World Cup is taking place in the West Midlands - and England's captain says they have a chance against big favourites India

England's kabaddi captain Hardeep Singh believes his team can reach the final of the sport's world cup and even compete with India, the red-hot favourites.

Kabaddi, where seven-player teams earn points by crossing into their opponent's territory to tag them and return safely, all the while chanting "kabaddi", is the second most watched sport in India behind cricket and often pulls in TV audiences of over 200 million.

Unsurprisingly India has dominated every international tournament to date, and their men's team are set to extend that run.

But Singh and his colleagues have home advantage, as this year's tournament is taking place in the West Midlands and he believes they have a chance of making history - and bringing new fans to the sport at the same time.

Singh, who is from Wolverhampton, which, along with Birmingham, Coventry, and Walsall, is one of the venues for the first world cup held outside Asia, said his squad thinks "we can get to the final and give India a good game".

"They [India] are seen as invincible because it's their national sport and they have so much heritage. But we will be ready to have that fight.

"When I started playing kabaddi I never thought it would get this far, and hosting a world cup in my hometown makes it particularly special," he added.

Some in the UK will remember the fast, intense, and often very loud sport from Trans World Sport, Channel Four's popular mid-1990s Saturday morning show.

For anyone new to it, Singh says kabaddi is "crazy" and has "got everything".

He sees the tournament as a huge opportunity, as he believes there's "so much potential for kabaddi in this country, provided there is enough support and funding at grass-roots level".

England, who play in the British Kabaddi League, which was founded in 2022, thumped Hungary by a record-breaking 101-25 on the tournament's opening day.

England's women's team also made a winning start in the initial round-robin phase on Tuesday, beating Hungary 85-15. Men's and women's teams from Scotland and Wales are also taking part.

Indeed, Scotland's men pulled off a major upset by holding India to a thrilling 64-64 draw on Tuesday.

England women's captain Athira Sunil took up the sport at school in Kerala after changing from badminton and says players are coming to kabaddi from sports like rugby and wrestling, "so they already come with good speed and techniques".

She said the future for the sport in this country "is very good".

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It's growing so quickly, that some are hoping it will one day appear in the Commonwealth Games or even the Olympics.

Commonwealth Games Federation president Chris Jenkins said he was "blown away" after coming to Tuesday's second day in Wolverhampton, adding he was impressed by "the atmosphere and the chanting, and the match itself is really physical and very exciting".

Plans are understood to have been made to showcase the sport within the truncated Games programme in Glasgow next year.

(c) Sky News 2025: The Kabaddi World Cup is taking place in the West Midland