Ahmedabad: The Arena by TransStadia at Ahmedabad was houseful today as Bollywood stars, celebrities and from fans around the world came together for the Kabaddi World Cup opening day. The first match between India and South Korea was stellar show as the match went to the last 20 seconds for the results. This was for the first time ever that South Korea beat Indian team and with a 34-32 margin. South Korea made history by defeating the team India in the opening match and started their World Cup run with a win.
It was heartbreak for all the viewers across the world to see the defending champion India struggling in the second half. India entered the second half with a margin of five points lead which South Korea had to match up and they did very easily. It was a slow start by the home team and South Korea didn’t open their cards in first half. At the start of second half India was comfortably in when South Korea played their game to take away the victory.
In the last 10 minutes, India was closing on to an all out when Ajay Thakur saved one but it posed too little too late as Dharamraj Cheralathan & Anup Kumar were tackled in their respective defense and raid by the inexperienced South Korean squad. After being all out, when all the players were back on mat, Anup tried to play safe again via bonus. He attempted few bonuses while South Korea was planning to attack.
The jubilant South Korea took the first match win with just two points and made it clear that they are here to win the world cup. It seems that Indian team players are not over yet from their rivalries of Pro Kabaddi League as their team didn’t look like a cohesive unit. To regroup as a defending champions, India will have to take some time. It was not a team effort by India which was very much visible on the mat. All the team needs is thinking these points before the next game.