HOLDERS
INDIA OPENED THEIR CAMPAIGN EXPECTEDLY ON A HIGH NOTE
- By Ranjeet Dalvi
Panvel, New Mumbai, 24th Jan 07 : Holders India opened
their campaign expectedly on a high note when they literally
toyed with debutants Turkmenistan to register a 45-19
victory in group “A” today in the second World
Cup Kabaddi competition hosted by Karnala Sports Academy
under the aegis of the Internationla Kabaddi Federation
and Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India. In an adjacent
court runners up to India in the last edition , Iran registered
their second straight victory in group “B”
when they overpowered a United Kingdom 73-17. The well
built Iranians who have a tradition of world class wrestling
and football showed that they are capable of imbibing
the rudiments of the game easily in the near future. The
second defeat for U.K. put them out of contention for
the knock out phase. India started with Manpreet Singh
and Dinesh Kumar , the two Punjabi “mundas”
storming the rival territory like a swarm of bees. Before
Turkmenistan could realise the intensity of the storm
they had lost five players in the very first raid by Manpreet
and the formalities of wiping out the opponents- registering
a “lona” – was complete in 90 seconds.
The next followed in another two minutes which completely
sunk Turkmenistan.
Earlier the event was formally inaugurated by honourable
Sunil Tatkare the guardian minister of Raigad and the
Food And Civil Supply Minister of Maharashtra. He was
all praised for the efforts taken by by PWP MLA Vivek
Patil to take the game ahead in its quest to reach the
Olympic. Vivek Patil while sharing his views said “
We have planned to produce at least one player in the
near future from our academy who would represent India
at the international level and Olympic. Jagdishwar Yadav,
Secretary General, who was the technical director at Doha
Asian Games sounded a warning, saying after Football and
Wrestling Iran has nominated Kabaddi as a third important
game. Japan too have taken giants strides and have taken
keen interest in the development of the game. These steps
would ensure progress in the near future.
The opening ceremony was preceded by a cultural show of
pomp and pagentry with the fusion theme “ Maharashtra
Ki Lokdhara se Bharat Darshan.” The Maharashtra
Geet “Garja Maharashtra Maza saw the caribbeans
swinging to the beats as if they were doing so to a calypso.
The Japanese, Koreans then followed suit with the huge
crowd waving saffron flags a the tricolour in the stands.
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