Asian Games 2018: Women's Kabaddi Finals, India v Iran - 5 Talking Points

The Iranian women took a leaf out of the men's kabaddi teams' book as they overcame a stiff challenge from the Indian women in the summit clash of the 2018 Asian Games to win 27-24 and claim the gold medal, triggering wild celebrations in the Iranian camp present at the Theatre Garuda, Indonesia.

The Indian women came into the contest with a lot of confidence, having got the better of the Chinese Taipei by a big margin in the semifinals. Against an upbeat Iran side, the battle was certain to give way for some fireworks and that is exactly what transpired on the mat, as the two teams dealt a blow for blow but in the end -- the Iranians claimed the honors.

As the two teams jogged onto the mat prior to the start of the contest, the stadium buzzed with enthusiasm as a full house watched on alongside the Indian and Iranian men's team, who backed their team right from start till the end.

The Indian eves started strong and raced away to a 6-2 lead but the Iranians came back to go into the second half with just a two-point deficit. In the second half, the Iranians clawed their way back into the contest and also went on to amass points at a lively rate. This piled the pressure on the Indian eves from which they could not recover, much to the dismay of the Indian camp highlighted by a teary-eyed Ajay Thakur, who could not believe what had transpired on the mat.

While it was indeed a tale of two halves, there were some big moments all through the match. Here are the talking points from today's encounter.

#5 Indecisive tackling from the Indian defenders

The Indian defenders, led by Sakshi Kumari on the right corner, enjoyed a fantastic run leading to the finals but that spark in the defense unit went missing in the grand finale, hurting the Indians' surge towards victory.

Sakshi Kumari, one of the best defenders in the tournament, looked off color and did not put in as many tackles as she would like. To add to the misery, the combination of the right corner and the right cover was targetted too often and gifted easy points to the Iranians.

Even in the last minute of the game, on the Iranian DO OR DIE raid, the Indian defenders granted the Iranian raider acres of space to pick the bonus point which took Iran's lead to two points and also saw them win the match from there.

#4 Lack of application from the Indian raiders

Randeep Kaur could not find her form in the finals. (Photo: OCA/ Representative image)

Payel Chaudhari kick-started the match in fine fashion, accounting for three straight points to swell the lead in India's favor. However, post the opening few raids, none of the other raiders could make any serious impact, including Payel Chaudhari.

The lanky Randeep Kaur looked a pale shadow of herself, while Sonali Shingate looked like a fish out of the water and could not pick any points. While the first half saw the Indian raiders look completely hapless against the Iranian defense, the second half saw pockets of points being picked up through bonus points and a raid point or two but on a whole, the Raiders looked all at sea against the Iranian defense.

#3 Woeful umpiring leads to big gaffes

The umpires had an off-day as a lot of points were not awarded that changed the direction of the game. (Photo: OCA/ Representative image)

In a game that gave rise to some high tension as players from both the sides swore on the mat on multiple occasions demanding for points, the umpires seemed to have an off-day which in turn resulted in many decisions going the other way.

While the Iranians had their share of bad decisions, the Indians had to bear a majority of the wrong calls. On one such occasion, with only minutes to go on the clock, Randeep Kaur went in to raid and got a touch on the right cover defender but was not granted the point after her claim on a toe touch.

There were some other occasions when the umpires gifted away bonus points that were not there and on other occasions, did not award touch points -- when they were clearly there.

#2 Sakshi Kumari's 'super raid'

Sakshi Kumari (Right-most in Red) contributed with a vital 'Super Raid'. (Photo: OCA/ Representative image)

With a little less than a minute left on the clock, India was trailing 21-25 when Sakshi Kumari went in for a pursuit. Normally a left corner defender, Sakhi has also proved her mettle while raiding and so it was not so bad that she did go in for the raid.

Running in towards the left corner, Sakshi traveled the court, hunting for a touch somewhere until she finally managed to get one with a swipe on the left corner defender. The Iranian corner did manage to put in a thigh hold from which Sakshi escaped and also warded off a strong dash from the right corner as she stretched her way to the half-line.

As the umpire raised his hand, two of his fingers were outstretched along with the thumb, signaling a bonus. Three important points were added to the Indian tally, as the score read 24-25 in favor of the Iranians, bringing the Indian eves right back in it right in end. Although the super raid could not help India win, it was certainly only one of the highlights in the game.

#1 Iran's dominating show in the second half

The Iranian women looked a different setup during the second half. (Photo: OCA/ Representative image)

The Iranians went into the break at half-time trailing by two points as the scoreline read 13-11 in favour of India. The Indian eves did have the advantage going into the second half but somehow managed to squander that lead, as the Iranians rolled out an ALL-OUT very early in the second half.

The defensive unit dealt serious tackles in quick time that put the breaks on the Indian raiders, as none of them could score points at will. While the Indian defenders were on the prowl, the Iranian raiders played mind games with them and in the meantime picked up bonus points right under their noses to keep the lead in their grasp.

In the end, Iran's string of nine consecutive points seemed to bring the game to them as the Indians could not find a way to kill the lead and gain control of the game.