India Defeats Iran to Retain Men's Asian Games Kabaddi Gold

India completed a golden double in kabaddi at the Asian Games on Saturday, with both the men’s and women’s teams defeating Iran in their respective finals at the Tokai Citizens Gymnasium in Aichi-Nagoya. The women’s side held off a spirited Iranian comeback to win 37-34 in the morning session, securing the country’s third gold of the Games, before the men overturned a half-time deficit to prevail 40-34 in the afternoon and claim a ninth Asian Games title (Google News India).

The women’s final was a tense affair from the outset. India edged the raiding exchanges 26-21 but conceded eight bonus points to Iran’s six, keeping the contest alive deep into the second half. A 22-16 half-time lead, built on 16 out points and an All-Out, evaporated as Iran outscored India 18-15 after the break and closed to within a point at 27-26 following an All-Out of their own. India steadied through a super raid by Sanju Devi and a captain’s All-Out from Pushpa Rana, before Pooja exploited uncertainty in the Iranian defence to restore a cushion. Iran refused to fold, adding a Super Tackle and 14 second-half out points, but the defending champions held on for a record-extending fourth women’s kabaddi gold (Google News India).

The men’s final followed a similar script of momentum swings. Iran led 18-17 at the interval after a first half in which neither side established sustained control. Trailing 20-17 early in the second period, India rallied behind raiders Arjun Deshwal and Devank Dalal and defensive interventions from Sumit and Jaideep. A crucial Super Tackle on Ali Samadi Choubtarash and a do-or-die raid by Aslam Inamdar levelled the scores, before Deshwal breached Fazel Atrachali’s defence to trigger an All-Out that pushed India five points clear at 29-24 with ten minutes remaining. Iran pressed but Rahul Sethpal’s tackle on Zafar Danesh and two late points from Inamdar saw India close out a six-point victory, extending their dominance to nine golds in ten editions, with the sole blemish remaining the 2018 Jakarta Games (Google News India).

The kabaddi double headlined a prolific Saturday for the Indian contingent. Earlier, Sawan Barwal won silver in the men’s marathon with a national record 2:11:37, ending a 44-year medal drought in the event since the 1982 Delhi Games (Google News India). In shooting, the trio of Tilottama Sen, Vidarsa K. Vinod and Ashi Chouksey claimed silver in the women’s 50m rifle three positions team event with 1,763 points, finishing behind China’s Games record 1,773 (Google News India). Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar added a bronze in mixed doubles squash, while Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh reached their respective singles finals to assure at least two more silvers (Google News India).

On the track on Friday, Gulveer Singh improved his 2023 bronze to silver in the men’s 10,000m with 28:29.38, Manpreet Kaur took bronze in women’s shot put with a best of 17.17m, and Baranica Elangovan became the first Indian to win an Asian Games pole vault medal, clearing 4.15m for a joint bronze (The Hindu). In shooting on Friday, Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet had won gold in the mixed team 10m air pistol, setting a new Asian Games record (The Hindu). The men’s hockey team also advanced to the semi-finals with a 2-0 win over hosts Japan on Saturday, goals from Abhishek and captain Harmanpreet Singh extending an unbeaten run to four Pool A matches (Google News India).

With the two kabaddi golds, India’s tally rose to four gold, 11 silver and 13 bronze — 28 medals overall — lifting the country into the top ten of the standings. The men’s cricket team will face Afghanistan in the quarter-finals on Monday, while the badminton and squash campaigns continue with medal matches through the week (Google News India).