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The Indian Kabaddi men's team registered a remarkable victory over their arch-rivals Pakistan in the evening session of the third day in the ongoing South Asian Games 2019.
From the other game on the day, the Nepal men's team came up short against Sri Lanka and face the prospect of being knocked out of the tournament. The matches took place at the APF Hall Halchowk, Kathmandu.
The Nepali men's team squared off against Sri Lanka to remain alive in the competition. However, they could not overcome the dominant start by the Sri Lankan team as the latter extended a decent lead by the end of half-time.
Led by Ranidu Chamara and Milinda Chaturanga, who have gained some experience playing in the Pro Kabaddi League, the Sri Lankan team maintained an upper hand all throughout the competition.
Nepal failed to overcome the odds with their inexperienced side unable to make an impact, which saw them losing by a 12-run margin as the full-time score read 22-34 in favour of Sri Lanka. The former suffered their second loss in a row, and are all but out of the race for the knockout spots.
India locked horns against Pakistan in the final match of the evening session. The Indian team, favourites to finish with a gold medal began with the same offensive line up - Deepak Niwas Hooda, Pawan Sehrawat, and Naveen Kumar. The corner duo of Nitesh Kumar and Vishal Bhardwaj shielded the defense along with regular covers Sunil Kumar and Parvesh Bhainswal.
India began the match in sublime form, with some breath-taking tackles initiated by the corner defenders that silenced the flamboyant raiders from Pakistan, namely Mudassir Shah and Nadim Warraich. Pakistan's experienced skipper Nasir Ali couldn't damage the attack laid by Pawan Sehrawat & Co. that saw the Pakistan team trail by 20 points in the first half 29-9.
India, defending champions from the competition continued to assert dominance all through the game and put up an all-round show that took the game away from Pakistan. Pakistan showed some signs of a comeback, but Naveen kept scoring consistent raid points for the team. The lead reduced to 13 points with the score reading 35-22, however, Pakistan failed to score any point in the final five minutes of the game.
India put the final nail on the coffin with an All Out as they went on to win comfortably by 27 points. What's more, India inflicted two All-Outs in each half, ensuring that the Deepak Hooda-led side was in the ascendancy at all times. The full-time score read 49-22, with India winning their second match of the event.
Here is the summary of the third day of the kabaddi event as part of the 13th South Asian Games 2019.
Morning Session
Match 9: India defeated Nepal 49-13 (Women's)
Match 10: Bangladesh defeated Sri Lanka 17-16 (Women's)
Evening Session
Match 11: Sri Lanka defeated Nepal 34-22 (Men's)
Match 12: India defeated Pakistan 49-22 (Men's)
You can look at the points table of the Kabaddi event in the South Asian Games 2019 here.
