Ahmedabad, Oct 9 (IANS) Japan recorded an easy 45-19 win over the United States in their opening Group B encounter at the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup here on Sunday evening.
Japan, making their debut in the Kabaddi World Cup, looked like experienced campaigners as they made short work of a hapless US side.
The US team, meanwhile, never looked like bothering their opponents at any point during the match. Their defence didn't have any strategy and it was evident that they didn't learn any lessons from the heavy defeat they had suffered at the hands of formidable Iran in their opening match of the Kabaddi World Cup.
It was the US defence that proved to be their Achilles' heel as they scored just a solitary point in the match.
Japan made a solid start to their World Cup campaign and were quick out of their blocks to open up a 5-0 lead after three minutes. The US raiders were struggling to come to terms with the agility of the Japanese defence and scored just two points in the first seven minutes.
Japan inflicted an all out on the US in the seventh minute to take an impressive 11-2 lead. Japan captain Masuyuki Shimokawa scored three raid points in the first 10 minutes as his team led 15-2.
The US defence let them down as they failed to score a single tackle point and suffered anther all out in the 12th minute.
Japan's attack and defence worked extremely well in tandem and led 22-2 after 13 minutes.
Ben Marcellus scored with a raid to give the US their third point in the 14th minute. Japan replied with a super raid through Kazuhiro Takano to lead 26-3 after 15 minutes. Japan were in excellent form in the first half as they dominated their opponents to lead 29-6 at the end of first half.
It was a similar story in the second half as Japanese raiders continued to score points with the US defenders struggling to put in tackles. Japan inflicted another all out in in the 29th minute to forge a 39-9 lead.
It was Japan's debut in the World Cup but they looked like seasoned pros and put up an impressive all round show.
Takamitsu Kono and Tetsuro Abe marshalled the Japanese defence brilliantly and scored seven points between them. Yasushi Nakajo was one of the most impressive raiders for Japan as he came off the bench to score five points.
--IANS
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