Taipei notch third win

BSS, Dhaka :

Chinese Taipei secured their third consecutive victory in the ongoing Second Women’s Kabaddi World Cup beating strong Iran by 31-21 points held at the Shaheed Suhrawardy Indoor Stadium in Mirpur on Thursday.

This was also the first defeat after three consecutive wins for Iran, the runners-up team of the 2012 first edition of World Cup.

Iran took the lead twice in the early stages of the match. But Chinese Taipei quickly regained control, leveling the score at 4-4 after a strong comeback that unsettled last edition’s runners-up. From there, Chinese Taipei picked up pace, forcing Iran into an all-out and moving ahead 10-5. Although Iran earned four straight points towards the end of the first half, Chinese Taipei still went into the break leading 17-11.

Chinese Taipei, who had failed to progress from the group stage in the inaugural Kabaddi World Cup, dominated the second half as well. After collecting points steadily, they sealed a convincing victory.

After earlier wins over Zanzibar and Kenya, Chinese Taipei have now emerged as one of the strong contenders for a medal in this year’s tournament.

Chinese Taipei’s Ssu Chin Huang said they had studied Iran well ahead of this match, hence they were confident of victory.

“The key to this victory was the trust of the teammates and team combination,” Huang said after the match, with the coach working as translator.

“We expected to beat Iran today. Actually, we have been studying the Iran team for a long time. Before this match, we had previously beaten by Iran twice. The way they raid and the way they defend are the same. But we made a lot of mistakes in the last five minutes today.”
She also said that their target remains reaching the final. “From the beginning, coming here to Bangladesh, we set one goal, to be in the final. I am confident that we are going to be in the final,” she added.