Sonipat Stars Open KCL Season 1 with 37-31 Win Over Gurugram Gurus

Sonipat Stars Open KCL Season 1 with 37-31 Win Over Gurugram Gurus

Sonipat Stars got Kabaddi Champions League Season 1 underway in style, defeating Gurugram Gurus 37-31 in the tournament's opening fixture at the Sports University of Haryana, Rai on January 25. It was a fitting start for a Sonipat Stars side that would go on to trouble some of the league's strongest teams throughout the season, led from the front by marquee raider Ayan Lochab.

Sonipat controlled large parts of the contest, building an early cushion and never allowing Gurugram Gurus back into genuine contention. The Gurus, playing their first-ever Kabaddi Champions League match, showed patches of promise but couldn't match Sonipat's intensity across the full 40 minutes, a theme that would define much of Gurugram's difficult opening stretch to the season.

For Sonipat Stars, the win set the tone for a campaign built around Ayan Lochab's raiding threat and a defensive unit anchored by Navdeep Duhan and Nitin Rawal, the same combination coach Ramesh Kumar had spoken about building his squad around at the auction table. The six-point margin also gave Sonipat Stars an early platform in what would become one of the most tightly contested points tables in Kabaddi Champions League history.

Gurugram Gurus, under head coach Jagpal Singh, would go on to have a difficult start to their debut season, but this opening defeat was an early sign of the fight the young side would show even in a losing effort, keeping the margin respectable against a Sonipat unit that finished the league stage among the competition's most in-form teams.

With the Kabaddi Champions League season now firmly underway, this opening result set an early marker in the Haryana kabaddi league 2026 standings, one that would prove significant later when Sonipat Stars' points difference came under scrutiny in the race for a semi-final berth.

Follow the Kabaddi Champions League website for full match reports, player stats, and the latest updates as we build toward Season 2.