JOIN US India’s kabaddi teams handed their respective opponents a brutal lesson, marching into the final with consummate ease at the 12th South Asian Games here on Sunday.
While the women’s team hammered Nepal 45-15, the men’s team steamrolled a clueless Bangladesh 29-9 as the hosts primed themselves for a grand double at the RG Baruah Sports Complex. In the final on Monday, the women will take on Bangladesh and the men will play Pakistan, who beat Sri Lanka 22-11 in the other semifinal.
Champions seven times (men) since the sport was introduced at the Asian Games, the Indians’ superiority is even bigger at the South Asian level.
Although missing several first string players owing to their commitments in the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League, the Indians had bossed all their rivals en route to another semifinal appearance.
And from the word go they dictated the terms against a Bangladesh outfit that looked rattled.
They did get a point from their opening raid but after that it was just one-way traffic as India, led superbly by skipper Anup Kumar and fellow raider Sukesh Hegde, kept scoring points at will.
Halfway through the first half, they opened up a commanding 8-1 lead and effected their first lona a minute later. At halftime, the Indians were sitting pretty at 15-3 and the Bangladeshis were just going through the motions from there on.
The Bangladeshis tried to minimise the damage but the Indians showed no let-up in intensity. Running for cover the Bangladeshis were left gasping for breath as the Indians completed another lop-sided victory.
Results (all semifinals): Men: India bt Bangladesh 29-9;
Women: India bt Nepal 45-15; Bangladesh bt Sri Lanka 18-16.
Medals tally
Country G S B T
India 160 88 28 276
Sri Lanka 25 55 84 164
Pakistan 9 27 45 81
Bangladesh 4 12 43 59
Afghanistan 3 4 11 18
Nepal 1 14 22 37
Maldives 0 2 1 3
Bhutan 0 1 7 8
Note: G: Gold, S: Silver, B: Bronze
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