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The Kabaddi fever has reached Dubai. Coming from the Al Wasl Sports Club is the 2018 Kabaddi Masters, where six nations are competing against each other to claim the ultimate prize.
The six sides competing in this years Dubai Kabaddi Masters are- India, Pakistan, South Korea, Kenya, Iran, and Argentina. India and Iran are, without a doubt, heavy favorites while Pakistan and South Korea are expected to provide tough competition.
Day five of the 2018 Dubai Kabaddi Masters brought to us two matches, the first of which was between Iran and Argentina.
Iran is one of the strongest sides in the competition and is fully expected to make it through to the final.
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They had won all three of their previous matches so far in the competition and continued their unbeaten streak as they defeated Argentina by a scoreline of 57-27.
Argentina, on the other hand, showed more readiness than they did in that absolute drubbing they received at the hands of South Korea.
As a result, Iran finish top of their group, Group B and are expected to face Pakistan in the Semifinal of the 2018 Dubai Kabaddi Masters. Iran's win also meant that South Korea qualified for the Semifinal as the runners-up.
Once again, the match between Iran and Argentina brought to the fore many observations about both the nations. We take a look at five of these.
#1 Two All-outs in ten minutes puts Iran on their way to victory
It's only fair to say that Iran came out of the blocks flying. The Asian side was too hot to handle in the first ten minutes for their South American counterparts, as they raced into an early lead.
Iran already had a fifteen point lead before Argentina were able to open their account. However, it counted for little as Iran completed the second successive All-out to stretch their lead to 22-1.
By the Twelfth minute, Iran was leading Argentina by 25 points to 1.
Iran's opening barrage set the tone for the entirety of the match, with the Asian side getting themselves in a dominant position right from the very beginning.
#2 First-half incompetence cost Argentina
Argentina are perhaps the most inexperienced side out of the six competing at the 2018 Dubai Kabaddi Masters.
So far in the competition, the South American side has received a thrashing from both Iran and South Korea. Their luck didn't improve on Day five as they were on the wrong side of the scoreline yet again.
Argentina showed impatience in attack and complacency in defense during the first half. They trailed Iran by twenty-one points at half-time.
Although Argentina improved by a lot in the second half, their first-half no-show assured that they had lost the match long before the final whistle was sounded.
#3 Iran's defense strong but not unbeatable
A highlight of the first half was Iran's ten-minute flurry, in which they manage to send the whole Argentinian team back to their dugout twice.
What made this possible was an unbreakable Iranian defense, holding firm whenever their South Amercian counterparts paid a visit.
Each time an Argentinian player tried to make a move or steal a point, Iran's covers would quickly close in on him, blocking his escape route. To this effect, Iran pulled off their defensive strategy perfectly in the first half.
However, in the second half, Iran got complacent and showed that there are ways to exploit one of the strongest defensive units.
The Indian Kabaddi team sitting in the stadium would have been watching closely.
#4 Argentina show resilience in the second half
After their first-half horror, fans would not have been accepting Argentina to do anything significant in the second.
They would have thought that perhaps the match would end in a similar fashion as it did against South Korea when Argentina lost by a margin of forty-six points.
However, if anything, the South American proved them wrong by putting on an improved performance after half-time.
Franco Castro, Nahuel Lopez, and Mariano Pascual all put in good performances to win a total of twenty points for Argentina in the second half.
To give a bit of perspective, the score of the first half between Iran and Argentina was 28-7, the score of the second half (if taken separately) 29-20.
Argentina eventually lost the match but showed promise for their future endeavors.
#5 Iran's victory means India face South Korea in the Semifinal
Iran's match had another significance to it. Failing to win meant that the Asian side would have given South Korea a chance to steal their spot at the top of the Group B table.
However, Iran put all doubts to rest early on in the game, setting themselves up as the more dominant side.
Iran's victory means that India, already through as group winners, will now face South Korea in the Semifinal. The South Korean side has some brilliant players and can spring a surprise on the tournament favorites.
Iran will now, in all likelihood, face Pakistan in the Semis with a mouthwatering clash against India potentially lined up for the final.
What did you think about Iran's win? Sound off your opinions in the comments section below!
