‘Overconfident’ India lose kabaddi stronghold
JAKARTA: India’s 28-year dominance in kabbadi in Asian Games ended on Thursday as the men’s side lost 18-27 to an energetic Iran side to miss out on gold for the first time in eight Asian Games. Long-time rival Pakistan also got bronze after losing to South Korea 24-27 in the other semi-final. A full-house crowd composed mainly of Indians kept roaring for the Ajay Thakur-led side till the last minute but it was too late for an ‘overconfident’ side that looked clueless in the second half of the 40-minute duel. At the 2014 Incheon Asian Games India had a thrilling two-point win in the final against the same opponents.
Despite leading 6-1 in the firsthalf, India, who missed best raider Rohit Kumar due to injury, stumbled quickly. With Iran left with just two raiders, India had the opportunity to strike a lona (when the entire opposing team is declared out).
But Iran kept their cool and scored back-to-back three super tackles, restoring parity at eight. After the first timeout, Iran extended the lead by one point with a fine raid point by Mohammadesmaeil Maghsoudloumahalli before India levelled the score at nine. After change of ends, Iran came up with a stunning display of raiding, catching and defending, leaving India completely jittery. Injury to Indian skipper Ajay Thakur at this juncture too proved to be crucial. Puzzling was the way India went on overexcited raids while trailing by three points in the last 10 minutes of play. That played into the Iranians’ hands as they showed better grasp on their catching and tackling than India.
“We had a certain game plan for India as we were watching all the footage of India and Pakistan players back home during our training. We followed these two teams religiously and then chalked out our strategy,” Iran’s coach Gholamreza Mazandarani
Yes, we were a bit overconfident as we thought that this time too we would win against Iran. But this turned out to be our biggest mistake. RAMBIR SINGH, India coach
said after the match. “We didn’t lose patience and were waiting for Indians to commit mistakes. It happened as per our plan and that proved worthy.” Later India coach Rambir Singh Khokhar admitted overconfidence led to their fall. “Yes, we were a bit overconfident as we thought that this time too we would win against Iran. But this turned out to be our big mistake as the rivals were ready to tackle us,” Rambir said. “We are known for our best raiding skills in the world, but didn’t live up to the expectations today.”
He, however, admitted that Ajay Thakur’s injury proved costly. “We needed to score a lona early in the game, and later the injury to Ajay (a cut on his forehead) frustrated the team’s moral. As many as seven super tackles (that fetched Iran 14 points) left us licking our wounds. It’s a big loss and we will never forget this. Iran were far superior to us and they deserved to win.”