Harpal Singh Bedi
Defending champion India thrashed Japan 62-17 for its third straight emphatic win at the Asian Kabaddi Championship in Busan, Korea on Wednesday.
Aslam Inamdar, who made an impressive debut against Korea on Tuesday, got his second super 10 of the tournaments. Sachin Tanwar also scored 10 raid points.
This was Japan’s first defeat in three outings. They were ruthless in their 85-11 victory over Hong Kong on Tuesday and beat Korea 45-18earlier in the day, failed to put up any worthwhile resistance against rampaging Indians.
The seven-time champions inflicted six all-outs on Japan with three in each half. They scored their first all-out in the fourth minuteand raced to an 18-0 lead before Japan opened their account in the eighth minute.
The first half ended with a score of 32-6 with Captain Pawan Sehrawat being the top raider in this session with six points.
Japan had a better showing in the second half and scored quick points at the end. India, however, won the match with a margin of 45 points.
Earlier in the tournament, India dominated Korea 76-13 followed by a 53-19 win over Chinese Taipei on Tuesday. The Indian team will takeon Iran in a much-anticipated match on Thursday. Iran is also unbeaten in the tournament so far.
Six teams – India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong- are participating in the Asian Championships. The top two teamsafter the single-legged round-robin league will meet in the final on Friday.