Asian Kabaddi Championship: India begin title defence with two wins on trot

Busan (South Korea): Defending champions India started their Asian Kabaddi Championship campaign with wins over hosts South Korea and Chinese Taipei, here on Tuesday.

Two wins in as many as games on Day-1 of the tournament placed India at the top of the standings.

India will next take on Japan on Wednesday with the much-awaited clash against the 2003 champions, Iran, scheduled on Thursday.

Team India began the proceedings with a solid start against the hosts, Korea. Debutant Aslam Inamdar, who came in as a substitute for seasoned raider Naveen Kumar, scored a super 10 as India went on to win the match 76-13.

The visitors scored nine straight points before Korea opened their account and led the contest by 40-4 at the end of the first half.

India continued the momentum in the second half, but the Koreans pushed themselves in the initial minutes, but it was no match against India’s clinical all-round as the defending champions sealed a massive 76-13 win.

India inflicted the hosts with five all-outs in the match. Surjeet Narwal was impressive in defence and scored seven tackle points.

The defending champions had a watchful start when they faced a slightly stronger challenge in their second match of the day against Chinese Taipei. Led by Sachin’s all-round show, India won the match 53-19.

Taipei raiders and defenders seemed quite effective against the Indian team. They were trailing by three points in the first quarter before India skipper Pawan Sehrawat, inflicted an all-out in the 12th minute, extending India's lead to 14-6. The scores read 21-12 in India’s favour at half-time. Taipei's defence appeared impressive at the beginning of the second half, but the experienced Indian side kept the scoreboard ticking. Three all-outs by India in the second half and a flurry of points helped them win the match by a margin of 34 points.