New Delhi: India’s Men’s team fetched gold medal in the Kabbadi match by thrashing Iran in the ongoing Asian Games on Saturday, thereby pushing the medal one notch higher. However, the golden victory came after a big controversy that not only clouded the match outcome but also led to its suspension by the referee.
Men’s team defeated Iran 33-29 in the Kabaddi final in the Hangzhou games (China). The men’s team maintained dominance in the game over its rival Iranian team from the beginning and finished the game with a win. During half-time also, Indian team had a lead of 17-13 in the scoreline.
Earlier in the day, India’s women’s Kabbadi team earned India it’s magical figure of 100 medals, by edging out Taipei by 26-25 in the thrilling final.
How controversy clouded match outcome
The Men’s team won the hard fought match and was entitled to win gold medal. But, the team was almost robbed off of its ‘golden chance’ as the final match was suspended following a controversy and high-drama in the match.
The controversy erupted over ‘lobby’ rule and led to suspension of match at 1.46 PM. It remained suspended till 2.48 PM and when it resumed, India outclassed the Iranian team by 33-29 and claimed the gold.
The controversy erupted as Pro Kabaddi League and International Kabaddi Federation have different rules on this.
At one point, the scores were tied at 28-28. Indian skipper Pawan Kumar Sehrawat went for a do-or-die raid. He ran across the mat to earn a point and ended up stepping into lobby. The lobby gets activated when raider touches the defender team and then switches to lobby. But, Pawan entered the lobby without touching anyone in rival team.
The defenders fearing loss of points swung to tackle Pawan into the lobby. It was then Pawan gestured to referees about violation of rules.
How ‘conflicting’ rules added to row
According to Pro-Kabaddi League rules, if a raider moves into the lobby and his raid ends there, he would be eliminated. Defending team is awarded a point.
According to International Kabaddi Federation rules,if defenders hold raider outside the boundary, the raider will have the advantage. The defender, one or more, will be declared out of the match.
India takes revenge against 2018 champions
𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇!!
A dramatic match between India and the defending champions, Iran, ends on our favour.
Our warriors gave a major fightback to end their campaign with the coveted GOLD🥇🌟 making it a double in Kabaddi🤩
It was a spectacular display of strength and… pic.twitter.com/ooLVZRBvb1
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) October 7, 2023
The referee taking into account the rules of game, awarded 1 point to Indian team but as there were 3 players trying to tackle Pawan, it ended up in 3 points.
On an interesting note, India’s Men’s team have reinforced their dominance in the game. They were the defending champion in 2010 & 2014 but suffered a shock defeat in 2018 final. The 2018 champion was Iranian team. With this victory, Indian team have taken the rightful revenge.
