Hangzhou, October 7 (Press Ki Taquat)
The Indian women’s kabaddi team survived by the skin of its teeth as it beat Chinese Taipei 26-25 in a dramatic final to regain its title for the country’s 100th medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games here on Saturday.
This was India’s third gold in women’s kabaddi which was introduced at the 2010 Asian Games. India won gold in the 2010 and 2014 editions but settled for a silver in 2018 after losing to Iran in the final.
This time the Indians faced Chinese Taipei, an emerging kabaddi nation, in what turned out to be an edge-of-the-seat summit showdown.
The two sides were tied 34-34 in the group league match, and both knew that it was going to be a tough final.
Chinese Taipei took four points—two from the raid and two for sending India All Out—and that took them ahead at 21-19.
At this point, captain Ritu Negi took a masterstroke of a decision as she stopped Pushpa from going for a raid. She sent Pooja instead who did a marvellous job as India got two points to lead 22-21.
It was not over yet and the match got more intense as the two teams were locked 22-22, 23-23 and then 24-24.
At that stage, raider Pushpa won a point for India as 53 seconds were left on the clock. Chinese Taipei took a review but that was turned down, sealing the fate of the match in Favour of India. “Chinese Taipei are now a very strong side. They have trained in India in the past and will keep on improving. We also have to work harder and maintain our hold.”
India had lost to Iran in the final in Indonesia.
“Our players were a bit nervous towards the end but they kept themselves under control and ultimately pulled off the win,” coach Edachery Bhaskaran said.