Indian Men & Women secure Gold in Kabaddi - Asian Games 2022

Crores of Indians watched with bated breathe – the match had been suspended and the wait lasted over an hour !!  - then Naveen went  into the raid – all that he had to do was to bid time .. .. he stayed back near the crease, dodged the last tackle attempt to win a point that ended the whole drama – Team India, Nation ecstatic.   Double damaka – Two Gold in Kabaddi.

 

Not exactly great time for the Organisers ! – not a good time for the referees and officials as there were so many arguments.  The 2022 Asian Games,[a] officially the 19th Asian Games   being held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. The games marks the 110^th  anniversary since the creation of the first continental event, starting with the 1913 Far Eastern Championship Games. Kabaddi made its first appearance as an exhibition sport in 1982 and became an Asian Games event since 1990 in Beijing, China.   

When the play stopped with controversy – it was at such a sharp razor edge :  28 -28 for India and Iran and a do-or-die raid.  Pawan dashed out.  Initially it was reported – Iran gets a point but Pawan showed tha  he went out of bounds without any touch, which meant India getting  few points as Iran’s defenders also went out with him.  

That moment undecided - with just one minute to go in the Kabaddi final between Iran and India at the Asian Games, controversy broke out which suspended the competition for over an hour. India’s Pawan Sehrawat went on to raid against five. Pawan went into the lobby without a touch, with all the Iranian players coming to dash him. But the Indian skipper was already out of bounds, and it was then, that all the Irani players went out of the lobby.  

As per the existing  rule, after the raider is in the lobby, the defenders are also given marching orders, if they step into the lobby if they have a touch on the former. This is what transpired in that last raid. There is a new rule too, which states, as soon as the raider goes into the lobby, the raid is over, and even if the defending team’s players go out of the lobby, they won’t be penalised.  In every tournament there would be playing conditions which will be shared to teams, officials and media – irrespective of which Team might get favourable decision, the decision will have to be in accordance with the rules followed in that tournament only.  So, where was the confusion and why the officials were lacking in taking a firm decision and conveying it loud.  

At first, both teams were awarded one point each, but after a protest review, India was given four, with Iran one. Then after repeated reviews, it was decided that both teams would be given 1-1 each. Indian coach E Bhaskaran jumped into the picture soon and presented the scenario. The Iranian assistant coach had a verbal spat with Pawan Sehrawat, which continued for some time.

After a long pause, suspension, arguments – came the decision of 4-1 in India’s favour.  Iranians were left disappointed.  It was clear that Pawan went out of bounds – there was no contact with any defenders,    Amirhossein Bastami and three other Iranian defenders rushed towards Pawan in an attempt to push him out.  The  points will have to decided based on the  number of players who went out with Pawan. 

Finally the match resumed with score of India 32 – Iran 29.  Alireza Mizaeian came on  raid  and was  thumped down by a double thigh hold of Nitin Rawal.   Then came the ceremonial final raid by Naveen and India winning Gold  33-29.  Great show Team India. 

The Gold winning team is :  Nitesh Kumar; Parvesh Bhainswal; Sachin Tanwar; Surjeet Singh Narwal; Vishal Bhardwaj; Arjun Deshwal; Aslam Inamdar; Naveen Kumar; Pawan Sehrawat; Sunil Kumar; Nitin Rawal & Akash Shinde 

Earlier the  Indian contingent achieved a historic milestone at the Asian Games, securing their 100the  medal with a nail-biting 26-25 victory over Chinese Taipei in the women's kabaddi final. In a fiercely contested final, Indian women faced stiff competition from Chinese Taipei, who pushed them to their limits. The outcome was decided by the narrowest of margins, with India clinching the top prize by just a single point.

 

The Gold medal winning team :  Akshima Singh; Jyoti; Pooja Thakur; Pooja Narwal; Priyanka; Pushpa; Sakshi Kumari; Ritu Negi; Nidhi Sharma; Sushma Sharma; Snehal Pradeep Shinde; Sonali Vishnu Shingat 

A very happy day for Indian sports lovers 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
7.10.2023