Bright start for Karnataka

Men edge Uttarakhand; women rout Bengal

Karnataka men began their campaign in emphatic fashion as they beat a formidable Uttarakhand side 27-22 in the 63rd Senior National Kabaddi Championships at the Malleswaram ground here on Tuesday.

Karnataka women also began on a victorious note, outclassing Bengal Amateur Kabaddi Association 22-14.

The Karnataka men began slowly as they were all-out within the first few minutes, with Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) star Prashanth Rai looking off colour.

Uttarakhand’s Pradeep, who plays for Bengaluru Bulls, made full use of the home side's lacklustre start to give his team an early lead as Karnataka defender Jeevan Kumar missed a few elementary catches.

Half-way through the first half, Karnataka began to find their feet as Rajaguru put in an inspired performance to ensure Uttarakhand's raids came to nothing. This was the turning point as Karnataka steadily started piling on the points with Rai and Sukesh Hegde enthralling the 10,000 odd crowd with some mesmerising raids.

At the halfway stage, Karnataka had gained a slender lead of 21-18, with Uttarakhand caught unawares by the telling comeback. After the restart, Karnataka looked happy to just run the clock down as their opponents did all the running.

With four minutes left, Karnataka had opened up a lead of five points with the scores on 27-22. Rai and Hegde employed defensive tactics during their raids to run the clock down and saw the game out with ease. Rai top scored with 12 points while Rajaguru scored four.
In another fixture, defending champions Services thumped Jammu and Kashmir 53-8 as they began their title defence confidently.

In the women's category, Karnataka riding on fine shows by Sushmitha Pawar (eight points) and Usharani (six) outclassed BAKA.


Results: Men: Group A: Services bt J&K: 53-8. Group D: Uttar Pradesh 29 bt Bihar 10.  Group E: Karnataka: 27 bt Uttarakhand: 22; Andhra Pradesh: 26 bt BSNL: 23; Maharashtra 49 bt Bengal 18.  Women: Group B: Haryana: 65 bt J&K: 5; Group F: Karnataka: 22 bt BAKA: 14.;

Groupings: Men: Group A: Services, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala; Group B: Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Manipur, Vidarbha; Group C: Rajasthan, Pondicherry, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Chattisgarh; Group D: Uttar Pradesh; Telangana, Bihar Odisha, Bengal Amateur Kabaddi Association (BAKA); Group E: Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, BSNL, Andhra Pradesh; Group F: Delhi, Indian Railway, Punjab, Tripura, Chandigarh, Goa.

Women: Group A: Indian Railway, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Vidarbha, Madhya Pradesh; Group B: Haryana, Chhatishgarh, Kerala, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Group C: Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Telengana, Pondicherry; Group D: Maharashtra, Punjab, Bihar, Goa, Uttarakhand; Group E: Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Tripura; Group F: West Bengal, Karnataka, Assam, Chandigarh, Bengal (BAKA).