Indian kabaddi stars get a reality check
JAKARTA: Winner of seven straight gold medals in Asian Games men’s kabaddi, India suffered a jolt in the preliminary round on Monday when the Ajay Thakur-led team was stunned 23-24 by a battling South Korea in a Group A match at the Garuda Theatre here.
India, where the sport of kabaddi was born, has dominated the men’s competition since it made its debut as a medal sport in the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990, winning gold medals in all editions since then.
With such a record, not many could have imagined India losing in Asian Games kabaddi, making it a sure shot gold for the country. However, in recent years South Korea and Iran have shown great progress running India close and even prevailing over them. Like in the 2016 World Cup in Ahmedabad when Korea shocked India 34-32 in a preliminary league match.
Though India is still in competition and just like the World Cup in Ahmedabad, where they finished second in the league behind Korea, can come back and win the gold, losing a match in the sport that they introduced to the world is a matter of concern for the game’s administrators in the country.
On Monday, Korea dominated India in both attack (raid) and defence throughout the second half as they maintained the narrow lead to emerge 24-23 winner. The result is a big boost for Korea as they are ranked third behind India and Iran and topping the league may get them an easier opponent, probably Pakistan, in the semifinal.
Considering the result in Ahmedabad, the match against Korea on Monday was expected to be tough. India had their opportunities but could not capitalize on them.
Skipper Thakur had a chance to score a point and level scores in the dying minutes of the match but a miscalculation by him on India’s second last raid earned only a technical point and the score remained in favour of Korea.
In the last raid, though, the Indian raider scored a point but while returning to his side, a Korean defender pushed him into the side gallery.
The referee awarded both teams a point each and thus the final tally was in Korea’s favour (24-23).
India had started their campaign on expected lines on Sunday, thrashing Sri Lanka (48-28) and Bangladesh (50-21) in onesided affairs. India now have to win their last league match against Thailand so as to finish second in the preliminary Group A. That would mean India would run into Iran in the last-four stage, who had given India a tough fight before losing in the 2014 final.
Despite the defeat, the Indians were upbeat. “It is not the first time India have lost to Korea. We had lost to them in the opening match of the last World Cup too but ended up winning gold,” said three-time Asian Games gold medallist Rakesh Kumar. “Today’s match is a wake-up call for us. Still I am sure we will play the final and win our eighth gold.”
That could happen only if the Indians pull up their socks and put up their best performance in the semi-final against Iran.