Ahmedabad, October 23: India's men's and women's kabaddi teams both opened their Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship campaigns with emphatic wins on Friday. The women crushed Malaysia 73-13, and the men followed with a 46-26 victory over England at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex.
Women: India 73-13 Malaysia
The Indian women took control from the first whistle, racing into a 20-3 lead and going into half-time 30-11 ahead. Captain Nidhi Sharma scored eight raid points as India dominated both the raiding and the tackling.
Sakshi was India's top scorer with 13 points, eight from raids and five from tackles. Renuka made a big impact off the bench with nine raid points from nine raids, and Anu added six points. In defence, Karthika Ramesh took six tackle points and Jyoti four.
India pulled further clear after the break, winning the second half 43-2. Renuka scored seven points from six raids in that spell, and India finished the job by taking the final quarter 20-0.
India ended with 40 raid points and 20 tackle points to Malaysia's nine and two, and inflicted six All-Outs without conceding one. Malaysia captain Darsini was her side's top scorer with three raid points.
Men: India 46-26 England
Surjeet Singh's side then beat England 46-26, with Naveen Kumar and Neeraj Narwal leading the attack. India won the raid points 32-23 and the tackle points 8-3, and inflicted three All-Outs without conceding one.
Naveen was India's leading scorer with 12 points, 11 of them from raids and one from a tackle, while Neeraj Narwal added 11 raid points. Pankaj Mohite chipped in with four points and Sachin with three, and Nitesh and Deepak S took three and two tackle points. India also earned 24 touch points to England's nine.
The hosts were on top early, leading 15-5 and then 23-9 at half-time. They scored 14 raid points and five tackle points in the first half and inflicted two All-Outs.
England fought back in the third quarter, winning it 10-7 to cut the gap to 30-19. Milan Kaushal scored five points in that spell, with Nayan Yuvraj Dabhi and Ahurajan Ragunathan also chipping in.
India answered by winning the final quarter 16-7. Neeraj Narwal scored six points from four successful raids, Naveen added four points from two raids and Nitesh made two tackles as India inflicted their third All-Out of the match.
What's next for India
- Women: India v Singapore, Saturday 24 October, 6:45 pm IST
- Men: India v Uganda, Saturday 24 October, 8:00 pm IST
