It is an ancient game of the
Nation – we played it during our school days – and today, felt immensely happy
with Indian performance. Amazed to see
the Arjuna Award winner and the man considered India's King of the game come back minutes
after he was left bleeding ….
It is Indian Captain Rakesh Kumar and the game of
course - Kabbadi Finals at Incheon. Rakesh Kumar, Jasvir Singh, Anup Kumar,
Manjeet Chhillar, Navneet Gautam, Gurpreet Singh and Ajay Thakur – all perhaps
household names to the followers of the game that is played between two teams
of seven players who take turns to send a raider into the rival half of the
field to gain points by trying to touch opponents who then go out of the game. During the raids, the raider chants the word 'kabaddi' until he
runs out of breath.
It was indeed
a great game this morning – yesterday Indian men ran through South Korea in the
Semis – today Iranian team rode on its athleticism, speed and agility giving a
big scare at the Songdo Global
University Gymnasium.
Much to our chagrin, Iran
dominated from early and in the first half had a lead of 14-12 …….. 7 minutes
in to 2nd half – a head butt and Rakesh was bleeding profusely – and
Iranians were still 22-21 despite a great comeback of 8 continuous points. It was tense and in the cliffhanger,
determined Indians clawed back. Towards the
end with minutes to go, Jasvir Singh, who was doing the most raids – kept standing
for long in the opponent arena – India was having a slender lead and trying to
hold on to that. Finally, Anup got the vital point, India surged ahead; in a match where Iran had the upper hand for
most of the session, India won 27-25 and Indian fans felt too relived. That is India's 7th consecutive Kabaddi gold….. earlier Indian women beat Iranian women much more
comfortably 31-21 clinching Gold.
Aside, the Gold, silver and
bronze medal winners in the Asian Games men’s 800 metres race were disqualified
today in a new storm to hit the athletics contest. Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz Mohammed, Musaab
Bala of Qatar and Abraham Kipchirchir Rotich of Bahrain, who finished first,
second and third, all had their results cancelled. The drama comes just days after Bahrain’s
Ruth Jebet was stripped of her steeplechase win as she was about to step onto
the victory podium, only to be reinstated the next day. The Incheon Asiad’s
official website said Mohammed was disqualified for obstruction, while Bala and
Rotich were penalised for breaking lane regulation
Perhaps what familiarised the names of Kabbadi players was
the Pro-kabbadi league that occurred recently – with teams like : Bengal
Warriors; Bengaluru Bulls; Dabang Delhi;
Jaipur Pink Panthers; Patna Pirates; Puneri Paltan; Telugu Titans and U Mumba
participated. Tejaswani Bai is the Captain of the Women’s Kabbadi team;
in the Men it is Rakesh Kumar who played for Patna Pirates
Double Gold is Happy News indeed.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
3rd Oct 2014.
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