Dubai: Indian kabaddi team skipper Ajay Thakur attributed the rise of ‘young talents and their performance’ as a big boost for the sport after his team inflicted a second defeat on arch rivals Pakistan to clinch a place in the semi-final of the Kabaddi Masters at the Al Wasl Sports Complex on Monday evening.
“Now I know that even if I don’t raid in the entire match, the youngsters in the team won’t let us lose the match. This has actually reduced my tension,” added Thakur.
India had defeated Pakistan by 36-20 win in the opening match of this tournament and recorded even a bigger 41-17 win in their second match against Pakistan on Monday to display their growing confidence.
“The successive victories have increased the team’s confidence. The crowd support too has been brilliant. Frankly, we never thought we would get such support in Dubai,” he said.
After Pakistan lost the first match to India, their team coach Nabeel Ahmed said that they lost the match as their team could reach only the morning of the match and that two of their star raiders could not reach Dubai due to visa issues. “A team’s performance can never be below par because of the absence of any player. Kabaddi is a team sport, and a team’s performance cannot just depend on two players. So I don’t think that reason made any sense,” refuted Thakur.
Indian youngster Girish Ernak was the star of the second match between the neighbours, successfully thwarting many moves by the Pakistan defenders. Rohit Kumar and Monu Goyat, through successful raids, gave India an early lead while Ernak scored five tackle points. India inflicted an all out in the ninth minute to lead 12-3, and they were unstoppable.
Iran too reached the semi-final when they stopped Korea 31-27. The well-fought contest was won by Iran mainly due to Mohammad Maghsoudlou, who scored 12 points.
