Commonwealth Kabaddi C'ship Indian men and women enter title round

Ahmedabad, Oct 30 (PTI) India men's and women's teams stormed into the finals of the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship with commanding semifinal wins, setting up title clashes against Sri Lanka and Uganda respectively here on Friday.

    The Indian men's team thrashed Bangladesh 56-27, while the women defeated Sri Lanka 39-14.

    Sri Lanka edged Kenya 28-24 in the men's semifinal, while Uganda women held off Kenya 23-21 in a last-minute thriller to complete the final line-up.

    India men dominated from the start against Bangladesh, inflicting their first All-Out within five minutes.

    Naveen Kumar and Neeraj Narwal led the raiding effort, while Deepak S and Shubham Shinde anchored the defence.

    India went into the half-time break with a commanding 28-8 lead after inflicting a second All-Out with eight minutes remaining in the first half.

    The dominance continued after the restart, with the hosts extending their lead to 38-16 with 10 minutes left.

    Bharat Hooda continued to trouble the Bangladesh defence and helped inflict another All-Out with four minutes remaining as India raced to a 49-20 lead before closing out a comprehensive victory.

    Bharat led the scoring with 13 points, while Shivam Patare contributed 11 and Neeraj Narwal added nine. Ajit Pawar also impressed in defence with five tackle points from eight tackles. India finished with 37 raid points, 12 tackle points and six All-Out points.

    In the other men's semifinal, Sri Lanka held off Kenya 28-24 to book their place in the final.

    Milinda Chathuranga and Sabihan scored six points each for the winners, while Viduranga added four. Made Dwiki Sanjaya led their defence with five tackle points.

    For Kenya, Helvic Wanjala top-scored with nine points, while Samuel Wafula contributed six.

    It's India vs Uganda in women's summit clash

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    India women were equally dominant, overcoming Sri Lanka 39-14 after establishing a 24-7 half-time lead.

    Sakshi led the scoring with 11 points, including eight raid and three tackle points, while captain Nidhi Sharma contributed 10 points from 12 raids.

    Ritu added four tackle points and Suman chipped in with three as India inflicted three All-Outs.

    Sri Lanka managed just eight successful raids, with Diluxshana top-scoring with six points, including five bonus points.

    Uganda women, meanwhile, edged Kenya 23-21 in a closely fought semifinal to set up a title clash with India.

    Nakayongo Shirat and substitute Nalwoga Nahia scored eight points each, while captain Nalubega Olivia added three tackle points.

    Uganda led 12-9 at half-time and held an 18-12 advantage with seven minutes remaining, but Kenya fought back through Lavenda Odhiambo, who scored 16 raid points, including six bonus points.

    However, Uganda held on for victory, with their first-half All-Out and a perfect five-from-five record in do-or-die raids proving decisive.

    India women will face Uganda in the final at 7.30 pm on Saturday, while the men's team will take on Sri Lanka at 9 pm.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)