Maha men dominate Haryana

New Delhi: Maharashtra stayed unbeaten in the group stage of the Federation Cup kabaddi tournament with a 32- 24 victory over Haryana in Mumbai on Monday.

Both teams are already in the semi- finals by winning the earlier two encounters and the defending champions were a dominant force.

Vishal Mane opened Maharashtra’s account by catching Haryana’s raider in the first outing and by the 16th minute, they registered their first all- out for a 20- 10 lead at half- time.

Haryana fought back after the break but a strong defense ensured that there were no hiccups. Tushar Patil was the star raider for the winners, bagging 11 points from 17 raids, while Nilesh Salunkhe chipped in with seven points.

In the semi- finals, Maharashtra take on Karnataka, while Haryana face Services in a repeat of the last four line- up at the senior nationals.

Maharashtra women failed to raise the bar and were knocked out in group stage after losing to Indian Railways 47- 24. Railways take on Punjab for a spot in the final after the latter rode on Randeep Kaur’s performance to beat Chhattisgarh 3428. The other semi- final will see Haryana, who beat Kerala 3813, take on Himachal Pradesh.