The Indian Kabaddi men's team registered aremarkable victory over their arch-rivals Pakistan in the evening session ofthe third day in the ongoing South Asian Games 2019.
From the other game on the day, the Nepalmen's team came up short against Sri Lanka and faces the prospect of beingknocked out of the tournament. The matches took place at the APF Hall Halchowk,Kathmandu.
the Pro Kabaddi League, the Sri Lankan teammaintained 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 favor 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, favorites 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, withsome breath-taking tackles initiated by the corner defenders that silenced theflamboyant raiders from Pakistan, namely Mudassir Shah and Nadim Warraich. Pakistan'sexperienced 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.
