LAHORE – Pakistan beat India to clinch the 2nd Asia Cup Kabaddi title in an unfinished thrilling final 40-31 as the visitors forfeited the final on a technical objection raised by the hosts here on Monday.
Speaker Punjab Assembly Rana M Iqbal Khan and Indian Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Badal Singh were chief guests at the concluding ceremony and distributed prizes and medals among the winners.
The clash between arch-rivals became more thrilling and interesting when Pakistan team was leading 36-31 midway through the second half when Indian top performer Sukhvinder Singh raided the Pakistani area for the second successive time which is a big technical mistake as a player cannot go for attack for two times in a row.
At this point, the match officials intervened and tried to control the situation by listening the point of views of both the sides and finally upheld the protest of the home team on which the Indians refused to continue the game and forfeited the match when ace of Pakistani team, Babar Gujjar entered the Indian area for attack but no one from the opposition made any move and Gujjar returned in jubilation taking Pakistani score to 40-31.
The Pakistani players were leading the first half with 22-16 and Pakistan was leading the final right from the start and they kept on leading because of collective efforts and superior display of skills from the host players. Host skipper Musharraf led from the front and received equal support from Sajjad Gujjar, Obaidullah, Saddique Butt, Lala Saifullah, Sajjad and Shafiq who performed brilliantly.
The second half was the climax of the game as the Indian side made desperate efforts to equalize the score and in process got closer to the home side. Pakistani team maintained the lead at 24-21, 26-23, 28-24, 30-25, 32-26, 33-27, 35-27, 35-29 and 35-30 and before the match ended, the score was 40-31.
Indian team was one of the favorites in the event and their players showed superb performance in the event and in the final, the most outstanding players were Gurveet Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Guru Lal Singh, Balveer Singh, Naqveer Singh, Salvinder Singh, Baljeet Singh and Mukesh Kumar.
Earlier in a classification match for the third place, Iran thrashed lowly rated Nepal 72-27 and earned third place in the mega event.
Talking to this scribe, Indian Kabaddi Federation president said: “Pakistan team played well and showed their supremacy in the entire event while Indian team was also equally well as they remained unbeaten in the mega event and played brilliantly. I am surprised to see how Iran and Sri Lanka played well in the event and proved that they have learnt a lot from India and Pakistan teams and they can be a tough competitor in this game.”
He said whatever happened during the Pakistan and India match was bad and from now on, neutral referees would be used in the all Pakistan-India kabaddi matches.
“Sports teach us the lesson of sportsman spirit so I apologize for what happened in the match and I hope from now on, by using neutral referees, no such incident will happen,” he added.
Praising the Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) efforts in holding the event, he said: “Pakistan organised the big kabaddi event in a very befitting way which is commendable and I would also like to appreciate the passion and love of kabaddi fans who were present in great numbers to witness the interesting but thrilling kabaddi final.”
Punjab Speaker Rana Iqbal said: “I cordially welcome Indian Deputy Chief Minister Badal Singh and all the Indians who came here to see the kabaddi and other sports events and I hope they will bring back positive message about the country that it is safe for holding international sports events.”