Unbeaten India Clinch First Commonwealth Kabaddi Crown Over Uganda
Ahmedabad, October 31: India clinched the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship women's title after beating Uganda 35-15 in the final on Saturday. India went through the tournament unbeaten.
India's leading raider, Sakshi, was decisive in the final. From 10 raids, she collected 9 points, including 2 bonus points. In the first half alone, she scored seven points from six raids, and all six of her raids were successful.
Anu scored 6 raid points. Captain Nidhi Sharma added 5 points, including 3 bonus points. Ritu and Suman each contributed 4 tackle points from the defence.
India's overall tally was 20 raid points and 10 tackle points. The team also put Uganda all out twice.
Nakayongo Shirat was Uganda's main threat. She attempted 24 of Uganda's 35 raids and scored 11 points, of which 3 were bonus points. The remaining Ugandan raiders scored 3 points between them, and Nalvogo Nahiya, who had starred in the semifinal, scored only 1 point.
Uganda's defence struggled to contain India as well. Uganda managed just one successful tackle on an Indian raider, which was made by Jalwango Jemima in the second half. Uganda's final count was 14 raid points and 1 tackle point.
India were 7-3 up with 10 minutes left in the first half. They pushed on from there, winning 15-4 in that phase with an all-out included, and went into the interval 22-7 ahead.
In the first half, India did not have a single unsuccessful raid. All nine of Uganda's tackle attempts failed in that half, and India's defenders recorded six successful tackles.
Uganda took control of raid points after the break, winning that phase 7-6. However, India's second all-out, which came 10 minutes before the final whistle, guaranteed the win. For the full match, India made 10 tackles on Uganda's raiders and turned three of Uganda's four do-or-die raids into successful raids.
India's campaign in Ahmedabad saw them win all six matches. They opened with a 73-13 victory over Malaysia, followed by wins over Singapore (32-16), Uganda (41-18) and Nigeria (38-10), which took them to the top of Group A. They then beat Sri Lanka 39-14 in the semifinal and Uganda in the final to win the trophy.