JOIN USUttar Pradesh, Railways champs
In a humdinger of a tie, Uttar Pradesh defeated Rajasthan 15-13 to clinch the men’s title at the 63rd Senior National Kabaddi Championship here on Sunday.
Reigning champions Indian Railways retained the women's title, thanks to local girl Tejaswini Bai’s inspired performance. Defeating Haryana 18-13, Railways notched their 34th title triumph.
Skipper Rahul Chaudhari led Uttar Pradesh from the front as he rose to the occasion with a scintillating attacking display. Rajasthan, who had beaten defending champions Services in the semifinals, took an early lead as Satish Kumar evaded the Uttar Pradesh defence superbly and won three raiding points.
Jasvir Singh then added another point with the very next raid to give Rajasthan a 4-0 lead. Chaudhari then scored with successive raids to open the scoring for his side. The first half ended with Rajasthan leading 5-2.
The teams were a bit too cautious in the second half but the game came alive in the final five minutes as Chaudhari brought the scores level at 5-5 through successful raids. The Telegu Titans star then gave his side a 7-5 lead as he received a bonus point for his raid.
UP’s lead didn’t last long as Deepak Hooda brought Rajasthan level at 7-7. Rajasthan seemed to wrest the initiative at this point when Chaudhari had a rare failure during a raid and conceded three points, giving Rajasthan a 10-7 advantage.
As tension mounted and scores kept ticking, Rajasthan edged ahead 13-10. But brilliant defending from Uttar Pradesh's Arvind Balivan and Rahul Kumar shifted the tide completely and with just a minute of play left the scores were tied at 13 apiece.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man was the best way to describe the scenes that ensued as Chaudhari, backed by the crowd who had now gathered around the court, scored a crucial point as Navneet Gautam — later adjudged the catcher of the tournament — missed a catch.
Rajasthan had to score with the final raid to stay in the game but Balivan again proved his prowess in defence as he tackled Hooda out of play and with this, Uttar Pradesh clinched the trophy in emphatic fashion.
The Railway eves began at a frenetic pace scoring points at will, while a visibly rattled Haryana took time to settle in. Haryana showed spirit as they fought back with solid defending and closed the gap.
At the break, Railways held a two point advantage (9-7) over a Haryana side that refused to go down without a fight. The second half began well for Haryana as they piled the pressure on the champions and at one point, both sides were locked on 11 points.
This was when skipper Tejaswini put in a couple of excellent raids to give her side a lead that was never squandered.
Results: Final: Men: Uttar Pradesh bt Rajasthan 15-13. Semifinals: Uttar Pradesh bt Haryana 25-17; Rajasthan bt Services 29-27.
Women: Final: Indian Railways bt Haryana 18-13. Semifinals: Indian Railways bt Himachal Pradesh 23-14; Haryana bt Maharashtra 17-15.