Asian Games 2014: India beat Pakistan 23-11 to enter semifinals in Kabaddi

Indian team was clinical in their win over Pakistan

Incheon, Sep 30 (IANS) The Indian men's kabaddi team brushed aside arch-rivals Pakistan 23-11 to top Group A and entered the semi-finals of the event at the 17th Asian Games here Tuesday.

The Rakesh Kumar-led Indian team, which defeated Bangladesh and Thailand earlier, put in another dominating performance to trounce Pakistan at the Songdo Global University Gymnasium.

The men's team with the starting line-up of Jasvir Singh, Anup Kumar, Manjeet Chillar, Navneet Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Subramaniam Rajguru, rode on its brilliant first half when it zoomed to a 17-4 lead. The Indian team knocked out 11 Pakistan athletes and collected two 'lona' points.

After taking a big lead in the first 20 minutes, defending champions, India played it easy in the second half and got six points as compared to Pakistan's seven.

But in the end, the 13 points first half deficit proved costly for the Pakistan, who also qualified for the semi-final as the second team from Group A. The semi-finals are slated for Thursday.

India have won all the six gold medals ever since the sport was introduced in the Asian Games in 1990 in Beijing.