India survive early scare to win third kabaddi World Cup
STILL THE BEST Ajay Thakur leads fightback as hosts rally to beat Iran in the final
AHMEDABAD: India fought off a tough challenge from Iran to win their third successive Kabaddi World Cup here on Saturday.
India overturned a first-half deficit with a superb secondhalf performance to win 38-29. India have thus won all the three Kabaddi World Cups held so far. They have beaten Iran in the finals of all the three editions.
The experienced Ajay Thakur played a crucial role in India’s win with his raiding prowess.
Iran enjoyed a stronger start and dominated the first half. But the Indians showed superb fighting spirit and aggression to pull off the win.
Thakur had started the revival early in the second session by claiming four consecutive raid points. His team-mates also showed excellent raiding and defending technique to edge out their opponents.
“This is the best moment of my life,” Thakur said after the win. “Kabaddi is India’s sport and we have managed to continue our domination. We will dance in the hotel all night.”
With four Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) stars in their ranks, Iran showed that they have improved a lot. They fought back to take a 3-2 lead before Thakur restored parity with a superb raid, staving off an attempted tackle by wrestling his opponent over the line.
The visitors outwitted Pardeep Narwal during his raid to regain the lead but the Indian defence thwarted the next Iranian raid to level the scores.
The teams went into the halftime break with Iran leading 18-13. Thakur produced a superb raid early in the second half to dismiss two Iranian defenders and reduce the deficit to 16-19.
Thakur continued his exploits in raiding as the Indians gradually bolstered their lead.
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