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India clinches fifth consecutive Asian Games kabaddi gold
(AP)
Updated: 2006-12-07 09:51 One day every four years, the ancient sport of kabaddi knocks cricket off its perch as India's national obsession. And as they have at the previous four Asian Games, India's raiders and catchers delivered the gold medal Wednesday, satisfying the expectations. Guarding against the tendency of its raiders to be flamboyant at the start, the Indians played a composed game in the title contest against archrival Pakistan and dominated throughout in a 35-23 win.
Pakistan's challenge was considered to be the strongest posed to India's monopoly of kabaddi since the game made its Asian Games debut at Beijing in 1990. But Indian raiders Naveen Kumar, Ramesh Kumar and captain Dinesh Kumar were too adept at wriggling from the grasp of Pakistan's catchers. "India's kabaddi team will keep winning this gold medal, but this is the biggest moment of my life," said skipper Dinesh Kumar, who joined Manpreet Singh and Ramesh Kumar in claiming a second gold medal. "Kabaddi players always yearn for one day in four years when India's sports fans applaud their feat," he said. "After all, this is one moment when India puts aside its obsession with cricket and cheers the players of this rural game." India's flag fluttered in the spectator gallery that was packed to capacity with boisterous fans, cheering at every point. Surprised by the huge turnout of spectators for a game that is not very popular beyond the subcontinent, the organizers guided a large number of people to an adjoining cycling arena, where they watched the kabaddi final on a giant screen. Cyclists at the velodrome seemed a bit surprised at the loud roars from the stands when they went about their training programs, only to realize the energetic cheering was the result of another sport being shown on the screen. "It's not always that kabaddi players attract such attention, but then the Asian Games are always very special for us," said India coach Balwan Singh, a former international player and winner of 16 titles in India's national championship. Kabaddi is most popular in rural parts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka because it is low-tech and low-cost. Balwan Singh said his players cut out the risky aspect from their raids after Pakistan gave India a tough time in the preliminary round encounter, which India won 31-20 after tailing by two points at halftime. Pakistan failed to reproduce the same catching strength Wednesday, allowing India to get all seven players out twice. "Our raiders performed exceptionally, but it was the strong defense that tilted the scales in our favor," Kumar said. It was the calm catchers that kept India ahead when Pakistan's raids became desperate after a three-point play by Pankaj Kumar opened up a 13-point lead for India. Pakistan improved on its bronze medal from 2002 to finish with a silver this time, but fell short of adding to its lone international title from 1993, when it eclipsed the Indian challenge to win the South Asian Games gold in Dhaka. Bangladesh slipped one place from the last Asian Games, defeating Iran 37-26 to claim the bronze in its national game. |
