Indian men and women win World Kabaddi titles

The victorious Indian team with the World Cup

Indian men fightback

The Indian men’s team won their fifth Kabaddi World Cup title beating Pakistan 45-42. Indian women added more joy to the fans present at the Guru Gobind Singh Multipurpose Stadium as they beat New Zealand 36-27 for the second time in as many years.

India – Pakistan matches are always expected to be high octane, edge of the seat thrillers and the final was no different. Sandeep Singh Surakhpur and Sandeep Luddar led the charge for the home team scoring 16 and 10 points respectively. Yadwinder Singh Yada defended well and was adjudged the best stopper. Both teams stuck to their game and there was not much separating the arch rivals in the first 10 minutes of the match.

It was Pakistan who at one point looked like taking the game away from India through fine efforts by Shafiq Ahmad Chishti, Mohammad Irfan and Akmal Sajjad Dogar who scored 15, 13 and 6 points respectively. The Indians fought their way back into game with superb raids.

Indian women’s team continue their dominance

The Indian eves did not let the Kiwis dictate terms as they started on a bright note. They led 18-14 at half time. Indian raiders Priyanka Devi and Ram Bateri were impressive as they scored eight points each. Sukhwinder Kaur scored seven points for the hosts. For Kiwis, raiders Lani Perese scored 12, Motu Elizabeth secured 9 and Pomare registered 4 points.

This was the fourth consecutive World title for the Indian women’s team.

Awards

Ram Bateri and Priyanka were declared the best raiders and Anu Rani walked away with the best stopper award. They were awarded with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each. New Zealand raider Lani Perese and stopper Tito were also awarded with a special cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each.

Sandeep Surakhpur (India) and Shafiq Ahmad Chishti (Pakistan) were judged as the best raiders, while the best stopper award went to Yadwinder. They were awarded with Preet Tractors each.

The winner of men section, India, bagged a prize money of Rs 2 crore and first runners up, Pakistan won Rs 1 crore, while the winner of women’s section, India, were rewarded with a prize money of Rs 1 crore and first runners up, New Zealand, won Rs 51 lakh.

In men section, the Iran team stood third and won a prize money of Rs 51 lakh, while in women section, the Pakistan team stood third and won a prize money of Rs 25 lakh.

Controversy after the final

Pakistan lead India by four points with two minutes left in the game. India levelled scores at 41-all before winning the match 45-42.

Pakistan captain Shafiq Chisti accused India of using unfair means to win the final. "The organizers played a partisan role. The match was stopped three minutes before the scheduled close to ensure the Indian team's victory. The Indian players were applying mustard oil to their bodies so that we would fail to get hold of them. We were also not allowed to drink water”, he said.

“If this is the way the matches are going to be played and decided, we will not participate in the tournament,” he added.

Pakistan coach Malik Safdar backed his captain. "We believed that India would play fair but we got a raw deal. This was bad sportsmanship and we are taking back bad memories of the tournament and will never take part in the World Cup again,” Safdar said.

Punjab deputy chief minister and a member of the organizing committee, Sukhbir Badal, said, "No unfair means were used but we will look into the issue."

Pakistan players refused to accept the runners-up trophy at the presentation ceremony. Punjab Kabaddi Association president Sikandar Singh Maluka convinced the players that the association will look into the whole matter. The Pakistan team collected the trophy from Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.