Aichi-Nagoya: India successfully defended their women’s kabaddi title at the Asian Games after overcoming Iran 37-34 in a thrilling final on Saturday, securing the country’s third gold medal of the competition.
The final went down to the wire, with Iran refusing to surrender despite India’s advantage in the closing stages. With only a minute remaining, the Iranian side needed to make up the deficit, but India’s defence produced a decisive tackle on Aynaz to keep their opponents at bay.
India maintained their composure through the final exchanges to secure the three-point victory and repeat their gold-medal triumph from the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Sanju Devi was again among India’s key performers, contributing to a campaign in which the defending champions remained unbeaten on their way to the title.
The victory lifted India’s medal tally to 27, comprising three gold, 11 silver and 13 bronze medals, with the country placed 12th in the standings at the time of writing.
The Indian women’s kabaddi squad featured Pooja, Raj Rani, Sonali Vishnu Shingate, Pushpa, Bhavna Devi, Ritu, Sanju Devi, Ritu Negi, Manisha Kumari, Pinki Roy, Jyoti and Nikita.
India’s men’s kabaddi team will have an opportunity to add another gold later on Saturday when they face Iran in the men’s final.
Earlier, Sawan Barwal ended India’s 44-year wait for an Asian Games marathon medal by winning silver in the men’s event with a national-record time of 2:11:37. India also took silver in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions team competition through Ashi Chouksey, Tilottama Sen and Vidarsa Vinod, while Tilottama and Vidarsa finished fourth and fifth respectively in the individual final.
In squash, Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar claimed bronze in mixed doubles after their semifinal defeat to Hong Kong’s Tang Ming Hong and Lee Ka Yi.
Archers Dhiraj Bommadevara and Chikitha Taniparthi topped the men’s recurve and women’s compound qualification respectively, with Dhiraj setting Asian and national records with 698 points. Chikitha recorded 705 points.
In other events, badminton player Unnati Hooda advanced after defeating Malaysia’s Wong Ling China, while sprinter Animesh Kujur won his men’s 200m heat to progress to the semifinals. India’s women’s foil and men’s sabre teams also recorded victories before exiting in the quarterfinals.
