The Bangladesh women's kabaddi team made a losing start in the 6th edition of the Asian Women's Kabaddi Championship, suffering a defeat to champions India by 64-23 points in their opening Pool A encounter held in the Iranian town of Pardis on Thursday.

Bangladesh will play their second group match against Malaysia, who also lost their opening group match, falling to Thailand by 45-24 points.

Meanwhile, hosts Iran beat Iraq by 58-13 points in their opening Group B match.

The previous edition of the Asian Women's Kabaddi Championship was held in 2017.

The Bangladesh women's kabaddi team is participating in this tournament with the goal of winning the bronze medal. Seven teams are competing in the championship, split into two groups.

Bangladesh is in Pool A, alongside Thailand, India, and Malaysia, while Pool B consists of hosts Iran, Nepal, and Iraq.

Iran has finished as runners-up twice, in 2007 and 2008, and secured two third-place finishes in 2016 and 2017.

The semifinals and final of the championship will be held on March 7 and March 8, respectively.