India complete Commonwealth Kabaddi double with 54-20 win over Sri Lanka

India won both titles at the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship on Saturday, 31 October. The men beat Sri Lanka 54-20 in the final at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad, shortly after the women had beaten Uganda 35-15 in theirs. Both Indian teams went through the nine-day competition unbeaten, and the men became the first men’s champions of the event.

The Surjeet Singh-led men completed a perfect run of eight wins from eight matches in a field of 13 men’s teams. The women’s gold, won earlier in the evening, gave the hosts a golden double in a tournament organised by the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) and approved by the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF).

A 15-2 burst broke Sri Lanka before half-time

The men’s final began with competitive early exchanges, but India were already 15-8 ahead with 10 minutes left in the first half, having inflicted one all-out. What followed settled the title. India outscored Sri Lanka 15-2 over the rest of the half, with a second all-out arriving in the closing five minutes, to lead 30-10 at the break.

Sri Lanka managed just two successful raids from 21 attempts in the first half, while India’s defenders made nine successful tackles from 10 attempts. After the interval India inflicted two more all-outs, the last of them in the final five minutes, and won the second half 24-10. Across the match India made 24 successful raids from 40, against seven from 41 by Sri Lanka, and did not concede a single all-out. The four all-outs they inflicted were worth eight points.

Shinde’s Super 10 and Dahiya’s High 5 did the damage

Star raider Aditya Shinde was the standout of the final with a Super 10: 10 raid points from 14 raids, including four bonus points. Bharat Hooda added eight raid points, all of them in the second half, and was not tackled once in his seven raids. Pankaj Mohite chipped in with six points and vice-captain Naveen Kumar added five.

At the back, Yogesh Dahiya produced a High 5, converting all five of his tackle attempts, all in the first half. Captain Surjeet Singh, Shubham Shinde, Pravesh Malik and Deepak Sankar took two tackle points each. India finished with 30 raid points and 14 tackle points, against Sri Lanka’s 11 raid points and nine tackle points.

Maduwantha was Sri Lanka’s best performer with six tackle points, including two super tackles, while Ansaf and Viduranga scored three points each. Their raiding unit, however, fell apart. Sabihan, Milinda Chathuranga and Viduranga, who had starred in the semi-final win over Kenya, managed only five raid points from 31 raids between them, and Sri Lanka failed in seven of their nine do-or-die raids.

Shinde thanked the home crowd after the win. “With more and more tournaments being held, it’s great for the people of Ahmedabad too, and we received so much support from them. We hope everyone comes out to support us the same way in the competitions ahead. There will be a celebration, a really big one, and it’s already going on here!” he said.

Captain Surjeet Singh and vice-captain Naveen Kumar carried the Indian tricolour as the team took a lap of honour after the game.

Sakshi and a watertight defence won the women’s title

The women’s final followed a similar pattern. India led only 7-3 with 10 minutes of the first half remaining, then outscored Uganda 15-4, including an all-out, to go in 22-7 up at half-time. India did not lose a single raid in the first half, while Uganda failed with all nine of their tackle attempts and India’s defenders made six successful tackles.

Uganda edged the second half 7-6 on raid points, but a second Indian all-out with less than 10 minutes remaining put the result beyond doubt. India finished with 20 raid points and 10 tackle points, tackled Uganda’s raiders 10 times and converted three of their four do-or-die raids.

Sakshi top-scored with nine raid points from 10 raids, including two bonus points. Seven of those came in the first half, when she succeeded in all six of her raids. Anu added six raid points and captain Nidhi Sharma contributed five, including three bonus points. Ritu and Suman anchored the defence with four tackle points each.

“I’m feeling great that I could score 9 raid points and help the team win,” said Sakshi, who finished the championship with 52 points from six matches.

For Uganda, Nakayongo Shirat carried the attack almost alone, attempting 24 of the team’s 35 raids and scoring 11 of their 15 points, including three bonus points. The other Ugandan raiders managed just three points between them, with semi-final standout Nalwoga Nahia restricted to one. Zalwango Jemima’s second-half tackle was the only time Uganda stopped an Indian raider, and they finished with 14 raid points and one tackle point.

Eight wins, and no one reached 30 against the men

The men’s run was as one-sided as the final. India topped Group A with six wins, beating England 46-26, Uganda 44-30, Malaysia 37-23, Nigeria 50-23, Tanzania 48-20 and Sri Lanka 45-24. They thrashed Bangladesh 56-27 in the semi-final before the 54-20 rematch with Sri Lanka in the final. India scored 380 points and conceded 193 across the tournament, and no opponent scored more than 30 against them.

The final standings in the men’s division were India (gold), Sri Lanka (silver), and Kenya and Bangladesh (bronze). In the women’s division, India took gold, Uganda silver, and Kenya and Sri Lanka bronze.