Korea stunned favourites India 34-32 to begin their campaign at the Kabaddi World Cup in spectacular fashion here at the TransStadia on Friday.
A hushed silence fell at the venue as seven-time champions India crumbled under pressure in the last two minutes to kickstart their journey on a disappointing note.
Jang Kun Lee produced a terrific performance in the dying moments of the game to turn the match in Korea’s favour. Korea looked down and out in the second half but recovered strongly to record a famous win over the hosts. Indian skipper Anup Kumar scored eight points for India but it wasn’t enough for his team at the end of the day.
It was a slow start by both teams as they exchanged empty raids in the first three minutes. Dharmaraj Cheralathan scored the first defence point for India in the second minute. The Korean defence sent Rahul Chaudhry to the bench in the fourth minute as Korea led 3-2.
Pardeep Narwal came on as a substitute in the 18th minute and scored in his first raid as India led 18-10. Hong Dong Ju, captain of Korea, scored a raid point in the 20th minute to close the gap to five points (13-18) at the end of first half.
Korea began the second half strongly as they scored two points in three minutes. A superb raid by Lee Dong in 35th minute turned the game on its head as India was reduced to just one man. Ajay Thakur scored two points and saved India from an all out but Korea successfully inflicted an all out in 37th minute but India lead 28-25. Lee then produced a brilliant super raid in the 39th minute as Korea tied the game at 30-30. Anup scored with a raid in the last minute but Lee scored two more points to lead 32-31. Korea held their nerve in the dying seconds and scored a remarkable upset to win 34-32.
In the second game of the night, Iran handed USA a 52-15 drubbing to begin their campaign on a strong note.
Published 07 October 2016, 16:59 IST