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The action continued at the Al Wasl Sports Club in Dubai as the powerful team Iran took on the mat against the seasoned campaigners South Korea on Day 4 of the Kabaddi Masters 2018.
The first match between these two group B teams was a one-sided affair but this second match was power-packed with lots of thrills. Iran won the closely contested match with the scoreline being 31-27 in their favour. The match was indeed really intriguing as Iran is a team full of players with brute strength whereas the South Koreans have lightning-fast reflexes.
South Korean Dong Ju Hong started proceedings as he went out for the first raid and returned after taking the first point of the match. The Irani raiders kept on taking some raid points throughout the match but they aced mostly in the defensive field with Nabibaksh being one of their standout players.
The score at halftime was 17-15 with Korea in the lead. In the second half, Koreans showed some strong dashes and blocks on the Irani players. Even though they were fine defensively, the offense disappointed the team. The Raiders just could not get going and did not play well, due to which Korea lost.
The end of the match was pretty dramatic as Korea took the last minute review and lost it. It was the biggest nail-biter match of the tournament.
Here are 5 talking points from the first match of Day 4 between Iran and South Korea:
#1 Rock-solid defense of Iran
Indisputably, Iran is one of the teams with the strongest defense in the tournament. The team consists of a plethora of wonderful defenders with deadly skills which make tackling look like child's play.
Be it ankle holds or double thigh holds, Iran aced in all. South Korean raiders did not stand a chance in front of them. Nabibaksh was the hero of the match as he made some vital tackles and had a 100 percent strike rate.
Hadi Tajik also performed a gobsmacking dash in the match, almost sending the raider out of the playing area. If the Iranian team continues playing the way they are in defense, they surely stand a high chance of winning the coveted Kabaddi Masters' Trophy.
#2 South Korea took the lead in the first half
Even though Iran won, South Korea started well in the match by inflicting an early all-out, to take a 15-6 lead. However, they were not able to maintain it and Iran took a marginal 2-point lead after the first half. The match was a nail-biter with both the teams fighting till the last minute of the game.
Jang Kun Lee was not at his best during the match -- which played a big role in the team losing. The South Korean side started to lose grip at the end of the match and hence lost the deal. Nevertheless, this was one of the most interesting matches of the tournament so far.
#3 Iran took multiple rounds of the lobby
For the unaware, the two tramlines down the sides of the court are known as the “Lobby” areas. These are the extended areas of play and only get activated after a touch is made.
In the first half, Irani players took quite a few rounds of the lobby. It did not affect their team much as their defense was in a lethal form. However, making such school-boy errors is not something expected from an experienced team like Iran. They have already qualified for the semi-finals but will have to work towards avoiding these mistakes in the future matches.
More alertness will be essential on the part of the players as the tournament is close to entering the semifinals.
#4 Koreans failed in the raiding department
South Koreans did not have good outings against the Iranian team. They were unable to win both the matches against Iran but would have surely won the hearts of their fans by putting up such resilient performances and playing with a never-say-never attitude. The door for the semis is still open for them, but they will need to play really well if they want to qualify and it is essential for their raiders to step it up a notch.
Jang Kun Lee did not look his normal-self in this match due to which the team lost. He will need to move on thinking it was an off-day and divert all his energies to the upcoming match against Argentina.
#5 Iran qualified for the semi-finals
Iran has qualified for the semi-finals after this win against South Korea. Iran has a confident team with one of the best defensive units and became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals. They will give a really tough competition to the other semifinalists and are also great contenders for the trophy.
It will be a treat to the eyes if we get to see a final between India and Iran as they both have extremely balanced teams. These two also seem like the likely finalists if we are to analyze the performance of all the teams.
