India lifts the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup
After 15 days of thrilling action, the final of 2016 Kabaddi World Cup was held in Ahmedabad between the two best teams of the tournament - India and Iran. In an exciting match, India defeated Iran 38-29 to clinch the title. India were trailing 13-18 till half-time, but registered a fabulous comeback. This is India's third straight World cup win in a row.
India started as favorites for the title
Having won previous two editions of the world cup, India started their world cup campaign as the favorites. India were placed in a relatively easy group along with Korea, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh and England. Indian team is led by Anup Kumar and has Pro Kabaddi League fourth season's Most Valuable Player Pradeep Narwal. Other star players are Manjeet Chillar, Rahul Chaudhari and Ajay Thakur.
India stunned by Korea in the world cup opener
The mighty Indian team suffered a shocking defeat in the first game of 2016 Kabaddi World Cup by Korea. In a close encounter, Korean team overpowered India to register a 34-32 win.
World Champions won all the group matches, thereafter
Recovering from a loss against Korea, India bounced back in the second game against Australia and beat them 54-20. India showed the same performance in all the remaining group matches and defeated Bangladesh, Argentina and England by huge margins. No opponent could get more than 20 points in the match against India. Raiders Ajay Thakur and Pradeep Narwal displayed explosive performances in those wins.
Thailand no match for the mighty Indian team
India dominated Thailand in the semi-final match to win 73-20 and set up the title clash with Iran. Thai team did not have any answer to the Indian attack in a match which turned out to be a one-sided affair.
Will look to maintain our record against Iran: Anup Kumar
Indian captain Anup Kumar who will be playing his last international match said that the team will play against Iran with a cool mindset. He added, "Iran is a good team. We have had a good record against them and will look to maintain it." Kumar said that Indian raiders are more skillful than Iran's, and that will be an advantage for the host-team.
