Tokai, Sep 25 (IANS): India men’s Kabaddi team handed Thailand a 66-28 thumping in the semifinal to march into the final at the Tokai Citizen Gymnasium here on Friday.
India, the eight-time winners and the defending champions, have marched into the ninth final of the men’s event and will be looking to defend their 2023 title. The Indian side handed Thailand a 66-28 drubbing in the semifinal with a stellar performance across the two halves.
India took 37 points from the first half, with Thailand managing only 18. The second half was another strong one for the Indians as they took 29 points, while Thailand took 10 points.
India took 21 outs in the first half, while they also went deep into the Thailand defence to take 12 bonus points and executed two All Outs. Their opponents gave them a fight for the early part of the first half but managed to get 13 outs, three bonus points and also executed one All Out.
India took 22 more outs in the second half and tallied three bonus points, while also executing two All Outs, while Thailand took seven out points, two bonus points and also took one technical point.
India men are unbeaten in the competition as they clinched four wins in their Group A matches before their semifinal victory. They will now face either Iran or Chinese Taipei in the final.
Earlier, India women’s side also booked its place in the final after a strong 48-24 win over Nepal. The Indian women’s team kept showing their class and bossed almost the entirety of the semifinal. They bagged 31 points from the first half to take a strong 31-17 lead going into the break. India then took 17 points from the second half while Nepal got only seven.
The Indian side was far superior in both attack and defence. India took 23 out points, four bonus points and executed two All Outs in the first half. Nepal, on the other hand, got 13 out points, three bonus points and executed a Super Tackle.
The things remained largely put in the second half too. India took 12 out points, three bonus points and executed an All Out, while Nepal managed just five out points and two bonus points in the last 15 minutes.
