[Watch] Korean referee executes ankle hold on Nitesh Kumar in Asian Kabaddi Championships, Indian defender loses his cool

In a hilarious turn of events at the Asian Kabaddi Championships, a Korean referee attempted an ankle hold on Indian defender Nitesh Kumar during the final match against Iran.

Nitesh Kumar executed a fine diving ankle hold in a super tackle situation in the final phase of the Asian Kabaddi Championships summit clash against Iran. His two partners helped him complete the tackle but Kumar had stepped out of the backline before completing the super tackle.

While the line umpire tells the defender gently to come out of the playing area in the Pro Kabaddi League, a local referee in Busan decided to go for an ankle hold of his own to stop Nitesh Kumar.

You can watch the video of the same below:

Nitesh Kumar was furious after the ankle hold. He was not happy with the way the referee pulled his ankle to stop him from completing the tackle. However, since Nitesh had stepped out of the backline, the umpires ruled him self-out and the super tackle was not considered.

India wins Asian Kabaddi Championships 2023 title

Despite a failed super tackle attempt in the final phase of the match against Iran, defending champions India maintained their undefeated record in the tournament and lifted the Asian Kabaddi Championships 2023 trophy.

Captain Pawan Sehrawat led the team from the front by scoring a Super 10 in the crucial match against Iran. India led by 38-30 when the aforementioned incident involving Nitesh Kumar and the referee took place. India maintained their lead and secured a 42-32 win against Iran to win the championship.

Pawan Sehrawat and Co. started well and took a 23-11 at half-time. Iran tried to fight back and brought the lead down to seven points with around two minutes left in the match. India kept their nerves and eventually won by 10 points.