Asian Games 2018: 5 things that went wrong for the Indian Kabaddi team in the semifinal against Iran

#1 Never-say-never attitude of the Iranians

The Iranian defence is regarded as one of the best in the world, and they showed why.

In the world of sports, it is of paramount importance that a team does not lose the attitude to push for a win. That is exactly the motto which Iran played under in the semifinals, keeping a positive attitude even in the direst of situations.

The Iranians were pushed to a situation where they had three or fewer defenders on the mat on five occasions and in each of these situations, came up on top to inflict a 'super tackle' and avoid falling to an all-out.

One of the highlights was when Fazel Athrachali combined with Mohammad Maghsoudlou to pull Indian skipper Ajay Thakur into their own court with all their effort and as the Indian skipper bled profusely owing to the impact, celebrated the umpire's decision to award them two points for the super tackle.

All throughout the match, the Iranians were on top and did not let the Indian raiders pick points easily. Even the Iranian raiders, who swore repeatedly on the mat for just a single point did not give the mighty Indian defenders an easy time.

Girish Ernak was good and so was Mohit Chhillar. The Raiders did pick points but not anywhere close to enough to overcome the Iranians. The Iranians were the best team on the day and the scoreline of 27-14 does indeed heighten their achievement.