India emerge champs in Women’s Kabaddi WC

Sports Reporter :

India Women’s Kabaddi team emerged the champions in the Women’s Kabaddi World Cup (WC) defeating Chinese Taipei Women’s Kabaddi team by 35-28 points in a keenly-contested final at the Shaheed Suhrawardi Indoor Stadium in the capital’s Mirpur on Monday. It was second Women’s Kabaddi World Cup and India retained their title. Earlier, India clinched the title of the first Women’s Kabaddi World Cup.

India led the first half by 20-16 points. They finished their 2nd Women’s World Cup campaign with an unbeaten note.

By virtue of yesterday’s victory, India bagged gold medal, while plucky Chinese Taipei gained silver medal. On the other hand, hosts Bangladesh were satisfied with bronze medal.

Sanju Devi earned the first point of the match with her opening raid. Chuang Ya-Han responded well with a bonus point. Pooja Nawal and Sonali Shingate then picked up points from their raids. In the fourth raid, Sanju secured three points, giving India the lead. Yen Chiao-Wen earned two points in a single raid to level the contest at 7-7.

Chinese Taipei then took a 9-7 lead by executing a super tackle on Pooja, who had gone in to raid. In the 12th minute, Sanju dismissed four Chinese Taipei players in a single raid to push India ahead 13-12. Huang Su-chin scored in the next raid to keep Chinese Taipei in the contest.

Later in the same minute, Sanju earned two more points and inflicted an all-out on the opponents, extending India’s lead to 17-14. India ended the first half with a 20-16 lead.

After the break, Chinese Taipei reduced the margin with a bonus point. Pushpa Rana widened India’s lead with a three-point raid. Gradually, Chinese Taipei began to fall behind. At one stage, they reduced the deficit to 25-22 through pointsin both raids and tackles. But with India playing calculated kabaddi through Sanju and Pushpa, the match tilted firmly in India’s favour.

With four minutes remaining, Chinese Taipei executed a super tackle in a final attempt to come back, bringing the score to 30-26. Near the end, India took control by inflicting another all-out on Chinese Taipei, pushing the score to 35-28 – which stood as the final scoreline.

After the win, the Indian players took a victory lap around the venue, carrying the national flag. They celebrated their second consecutive Women’s Kabaddi World Cup title with dance and jubilation.