Claim gold in women’s kabaddi for country’s 100th medal
Hangzhou (China) : The Indian women’s kabaddi team survived by the skin of its teeth as it beat Chinese Taipei 26-25 in a dramatic final to regain its title for the country’s 100th medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games here on Saturday, a PTI report in The Tribbune, Chandigarh, says.
This was India’s third gold in women’s kabaddi which was introduced at the 2010 Asian Games. India won gold in the 2010 and 2014 editions but settled for a silver in 2018 after losing to Iran in the final.
This time the Indians faced Chinese Taipei, an emerging kabaddi nation, in what turned out to be an edge-of-the-seat summit showdown.
The two sides were tied 34-34 in the group league match and both knew that it was going to be a tough final.
India were well ahead at 14-9 at the half time, courtesy of a super raid from Pooja, who was one of the stars of the intense final that also saw the team’s coach being cautioned with a green card.
The next 15 minutes saw a nerve-wracking display of tremendous game from both sides with the lead getting exchanged quite a few times.
Chinese Taipei narrowed down India’s lead to 16-14 soon after resumption. With less than five minutes remaining on the clock, Chinese Taipei won a crucial video referral as the scoreline read 19-17 in India’s favour.
From there, Chinese Taipei were on the ascendancy. There were just two Indian players on the field when a Chinese Taipei player made the raid. One Indian player was out as she touched the backline and the other failed to get hold of the opposition raider.
Chinese Taipei took four points—two from the raid and two for sending India All Out—and that took them ahead at 21-19.
“We worked really hard after losing the gold in the 2018 Asian Games. We waited for five year but our hard work paid off,” said captain Ritu Negi who was also a part of the silver-winning team at the 2018 Asian Games.
India had lost to Iran in the final in Indonesia.
“Our players were a bit nervous towards the end but they kept themselves under control and ultimately pulled off the win,” coach Edachery Bhaskaran said.
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