The 2016 Kabaddi World Cup kicks off today in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, with hosts India taking on fellow Asian nation South Korea. A lot of hype has been built around this tournament and the opening encounter promises to be a cracker as South Korea will be looking to cause a major upset by beating the host nation and title favourites India. The hosts, on the other hand, will be looking to send out a strong message to rest of the opponents by putting in a strong performance.
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As compared to other teams in the tournament, South Korea is one of the more experienced sides playing in the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup. Not only do they have better credentials than other nations in the form of medals at international competitions (Bronze medal at 2014 Asian Games), South Korea have within their ranks players like Jang Kun Lee an,d Tae Deok Eom, who ply their trades in Pro Kabaddi League.
South Korea, through Jang Kun Lee, will be looking to target the Indian defence, which may not be in its best shape at the moment, given the forms of Surender Nada and Dharmaraj Cheralathan. However, they would be quite wary of India’s ammunition in attack, which is potentially devastating to say the least. Stopping the likes of Rahul Chaudhari, Pardeep Narwal, Deepak Niwas Hooda and Anup Kumar will take a monumental effort on the part of the away side.
From the perspective of the Indian team, the opening game against South Korea is important in order to reiterate and underline their status as title favourites and defending champions. Led by “Captain Cool” Anup Kumar, India have multiple options in both attack and defence, something that will be really important as the tournament progresses. Coach Balwan Singh is likely to start with Rahul Chaudhari, Anup Kumar and Pardeep Narwal in attack while Surender Nada and Mohit Chhillar will hold fort in defence.
Match Prediction
In a lot of ways, the opening encounter between India and South Korea will be about how the latter tries to stop the home team from cruising to a win. The Indian kabaddi team is full of superstars and they will look to dominate from the word go. Anup Kumar, Rahul Chaudhari, Mohit Chhillar and Manjeet Chhillar will hold the key for India and the likes of Pardeep Narwal, Deepak Niwas Hooda and Jasvir Singh are expected to step up as well.
South Korea’s attack will depend heavily on Jang Kun Lee and the Bengal Warriors star will try to target Surender Nada and Dharmaraj Cheralathan to pick up quick raid points. One way of stopping Rahul Chaudhari will be to put pressure on him rather than waiting for him to make a mistake.
Verdict: India to win comfortably
Match Info
Venue: The Arena by TranStadia, Ahmedabad
Time: 20:00 IST
Live Telecast: Star Sports 2, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD2, Star Sports HD3, Hotstar
Squads
India: Squad: Anup Kumar (Captain), Rahul Chaudhari, Manjeet Chhillar, Jasvir Singh, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Pardeep Narwal, Mohit Chhillar, Surender Nada, Surjeet, Ajay Thakur, Dharmaraj Cheralathan, Kiran Parmar, Nitin Tomar, Sandeep Narwal
