Hangzhou ,China, October 6 : Bharatiya men’s kabaddi team hammered arch-rival Pakistan by 61-14 in the semifinal clash to book a place in the final of the ongoing 19th Asian Games on Friday.
Bharatiya showcased their A-Game in this semifinal and booked a berth in the final.
The Bharat team led Pakistan 30-5 at halftime in the semifinal of the Asian Games. Following a quick set of points for Pakistan, Bharatiya raiders and defenders have steadily piled on the points.
In the first half of the men’s kabaddi semi-final, Bharat inflicted three all-outs. After Pakistan’s early point surge, Naveen Kumar spearheaded the Bharat comeback, while skipper Pawan Sehrawat made a spectacular raid.
After halftime, Bharat continued where they left off, adding 31 points to the 30 they had at the break, though Pakistan would have been relieved to reach double digits. The Pakistan defence appeared to provide a challenge to Bharat for a brief while at the start, but after those couple of tackles, the Bharatiya raiders blasted them apart to book their place in gold medal match.
Pawan and Naveen had all-outs in the first half, and Aslam Inamdar, Sachin Tanwar, and Akash Shinde had all-outs in the second. Vishal Bhardwaj was the defensive standout, calmly executing ankle holds from the left corner position.
In the gold medal match, Bharat will face the winner of the second semifinal between Iran and Chinese Taipei on Saturday.
