The Indian men’s kabaddi team continued their brilliant run at the Asian Games as they beat Thailand 63-26 at the Xiaoshan Guali Sports Centre in Hangzhou on Wednesday. India, under the leadership of Pawan Sehrawat, was able to maintain its lead in the Group A points standings for the Asian Games thanks to the margin of 37 points. Chinese Taipei has also won two out of two games, although they have a differential in score of 37 as opposed to India’s 74, as per Olympics.com.
The Indian kabaddi team got off to a fast start thanks to the early raids of raiders Naveen Kumar and Arjun Deshwal in the first minutes. India wasted no time in unleashing an all-out on Thailand and sprinted to an 11-2 lead in the first five minutes, much like they did in the opening game against Bangladesh.
Pramot Saising of Thailand retaliated with a spectacular raid to increase the score to 15-5. However, India quickly revived their top raider Naveen Kumar, followed by Parvesh Bhainswal and Sunil Kumar, so they could continue their attack.
India defeated the Thai kabaddi team in three all-outs in the first half, taking a 37-9 lead into the break. Aslam Inamdar, Akash Shinde, and Nitin Rawal of India took front stage following the break.
Aslam Inamdar and Akash Shinde helped India increase their lead from 28 points at the half-time to 37 at the final whistle. Apart from scoring through raids, India also focused on winning bonus points against Thailand.
Next, the Indian kabaddi team will play Chinese Taipei and Japan for the top spot in Group A on Thursday. The men’s semi-finals in kabaddi at the Asian Games 2023 will be played on Friday.
