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Pune, January 17: Haryana reached three of the four finals of the Kabaddi competition at the Khelo India Youth Games, which moved into the closing stages at the Balewadi Complex. The Haryana team, which was surprisingly knocked out in the League stage in the Boys Under-21 section, safely made it to the title match in the other three sections.
Haryana took on surprise semi-finalists West Bengal, who had stunned Uttar Pradesh en route to the last four in the Girls Under-17. However, taking on Haryana was something totally different. The match started off with a three-point super raid by Haryana’s Mini and throughout the match, they maintained the upper hand. Haryana captain Anupriya Sube turned in a classy performance and managed to pull off a perfect 10. Bengal had no response to their opponent's defence and lost the match by a whopping 36 points.
In the second semi-finals, Chhattisgarh beat Uttar Pradesh by three points to reach the final showdown. Chhattisgarh now meet the formidable Haryana girls in the final.
The Haryana girls continued their performance in the U-21 category as well as they beat Uttar Pradesh by a handy margin of 32-26. While the first half was in Haryana's pocket as they managed to ‘dismiss’ UP and pull off an All Out, the second half was a different story as UP made a comeback and managed to effect an All Out on Haryana. But Haryana saved the fort in nick of time and won the match.
On Friday’s they will meet Himachal Pradesh for the gold. Himachal fought a close match with hosts Maharashtra, who fought valiantly but lost in the last five minutes by three points.
The U-17 boys category saw two very close semi-final matches. Chattisgarh had to sweat it out before earning a 29-27 win, while Delhi took on Kabaddi powerhouse Haryana in the second semi-final. This was the only semi-final, where Haryana were strained a little. After an initial fight from Delhi, Haryana went on to win 44-37.
The losing teams are assured bronze medals.
Semi-final results
U-17 Girls: 1. Haryana beats West Bengal by 48-13; 2. Chhattisgarh beats Uttar Pradesh by 22-19.
U-21 Girls: 1. Haryana beats Uttar Pradesh by 32-26; 2. Himachal Pradesh beats Maharashtra by 22-19
U-17 Boys: 1. Chhattisgarh beats Rajasthan by 29-27; 2. Haryana beats Delhi by 44-37.
U-21 Boys: Chandigarh v Kerala; Tamil Nadu v UP.
