Kabaddi at Asian Games 2023: Preview - On a mission to wrest back control
Asian Games 2023: India, usually the kabaddi powerhouse at the Asiads, lost to Iran in the last edition, giving up its titles. Revenge will be on their minds.
Published : Sep 29, 2023 21:48 IST , CHENNAI - 3 MINS READ
India is the most successful team at the Asian Games. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Kabaddi, a contact sport, made its debut at the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990. India clinched the gold in the inaugural edition, boasting a team that included notable figures like Ashan Kumar, the current men’s head coach. The women’s competition joined the roster in 2010 in Guangzhou. Indian men have secured seven out of eight gold medals at the Asian Games since its introduction, while the women have claimed two of the three golds since 2010.
However, the last Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, sent shockwaves through the Indian kabaddi community as both teams surrendered their crowns to Iran.
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Iran played to its strengths in that 2018 Asiad men’s semifinal, blunting a star-studded raiding lineup with the super tackle. Ajay Thakur was left with a busted eyebrow early on in the match, derailing his momentum in the game. The Iranian defence, riding on the brilliance of Fazel Atrachali and Abouzar Mohajer Mighani, frustrated the rest of the lineup to complete a 27-18 win.
India’s showing in Jakarta throughout the tournament lacked coordination, and the defence failed to step up when the raiding unit ran out of ideas. A similar story unfolded in the women’s final. While the game was a more closely fought encounter, Iran’s defensive abilities helped overturn an early lead for the Indians to eke out a 27-24 win in the dying minutes of the final.
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The Indian men’s team for the upcoming Asian Games in China is an entirely new assembly, with no members from the 2018 edition. India boasts one of the world’s premier raiding units, as demonstrated by their victory at the Asian Kabaddi Championship in Busan a few months ago. Iran sent a second-string squad for this tournament, with veterans like Atrachali and Mohammad Nabibakhsh staying back home in the national camp. India, though, has largely stuck to the core used in this tournament for its Asian Games campaign.
India’s defence had a few issues, with the side allowing opponents easy points and making mistakes with the advance tackle in almost every game. Has Ashan Kumar revealed all his cards too soon? Only time will tell. On paper, India’s raiding unit is superior to its opponents in skill and experience. India has the Pro Kabaddi League that’s kept these players in action, but the lack of international competitions (AKC 2023 and the Bangabandhu Cup in Bangladesh were among the only ones held in this five-year period) puts other nations at a major disadvantage.
The women’s team, despite limited international exposure, aims to regain the gold medal, and Iran, with an Indian coach at the helm, will hope to play spoilsport. The side even had a training camp in Mumbai.
Kabaddi at the Hangzhou Asian Games is scheduled from October 2 to 7 at the Xiaoshan Guali Sports Centre. The men’s matches will last 40 minutes, with two halves of 20 minutes each and a five-minute interval in between. Women’s games will last 30 minutes (two halves of 15 minutes each, with a five-minute interval in between).
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Participating teams will be split into two groups. Each team will play one match against each other in the same group, with two points awarded for a win and one for a draw.
The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals. Losing semifinalists will be awarded bronze medals.