Ahemdabad, Oct 16 (IANS) A dominant first half performance saw Thailand register an easy 69-22 victory over US in the ongoing Kabaddi World Cup here on Sunday.
Thailand are on course to make the semi-finals and are now second in Group B with 15 points from four matches while US remains winless with no points after four games.
Skipper Khomsan Thongkham scored 14 points as Thailand raiders put on a spectacular show at the TransStadia Arena here.
US was abysmal in the first half and scored just three points but they bounced back and performed credibly in the second half.
Thailand's raiders scored three points in the first three minutes to lead 3-1. US captain Troy Bacon scored with a raid in the fourth to bring it down 2-3.
But it was all Thailand after the fourth minute as they went on a rampage. In the next six minutes, they scored 10 points and inflicted an all out to lead 17-2.
Thongkham led their charge and scored eight points in the first half as Thailand completely dominated the proceedings. Chanwit Wichian scored 12 points for Thailand and was a thorn in the US side for the entire match.
It was in the 14th minute that US managed to score their third point and were looking completely out of sorts.
Thailand inflicted the second all out in the 16 th minute to lead 28-3. In the next four minutes, Thailand scored 12 more points to lead 40-3 at the end of the first half.
US didn't trouble Thailand for even a single minute in the first half as Thailand asserted their supremacy at every given opportunity.
Bismarck Charles and Bacon scored two points for US as they trailed 5-46 in the 23rd minute.
Thailand did take their foot off the pedal in the second half and US did capitalize on it. US scored seven points in the next six minutes compared to Thailand's two and trailed 13-49 after 29 minutes.
US performed much better in the second half as their raiders Charles and Bacon restored some pride for them.
Khomsan scored two points in the 35th minute to give Thailand a 54-16 lead. Thailand inflicted the fourth all out of the match in 36th minute to lead 58-16.
Charles scored nine points for US and was his team's best player. Thailand led 63-20 in the 39th minute as Wichian attained a super 10.
Thailand inflicted another all out in the dying seconds of the match to wrap up a comfortable 69-22 win.
--IANS
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