11th Asian Kabaddi Championship 2023, Day 1: Pawan Sehrawat & Naveen Kumar lead India to two consecutive wins

The 11th edition of the Asian Kabaddi Championship began in Busan, Korea. Apart from defending champions India, who boast a star-studded squad filled with Pro Kabaddi talents, the other teams that are participating in this tournament are Iran, Korea, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, and Japan.

After all the teams square off against each other once, the top two teams in the standings at the end of the round-robin fixtures will face each other in the final. The final will be held on Friday, June 30.

On Day 1 of the 11th edition of the Asian Kabaddi Championship, four matches were played. India featured in two matches of these opening day encounters against hosts Korea and Chinese Taipei and won both their matches.

In the tournament opener, Chinese Taipei started off well but lost the momentum, conceding a 52-28 defeat to Iran.

India began the proceedings with a solid start against the hosts, Korea. They inflicted an All-Out on Korea in the fourth minute of the match. Korea opened their account in the sixth minute, while the Indian team produced another All-Out in the 14th minute and extended their lead to 29-3. Team India led the contest by 40-4 at the end of the first half.

India continued the momentum in the second half, but the Koreans pushed themselves in the initial minutes. India inflicted another All-Out with nine minutes remaining in the contest. India stretched their mammoth lead to 74-10 with a few minutes remaining. The defending champions, India, sealed a massive win with a scoreline of 76-13 over Korea.

In the third match of the day, Japan secured a resounding victory over Hong Kong with a scoreline of 85-11.

India had a watchful start when they faced Chinese Taipei for the final match of Day 1. The latter's raiders and defenders seemed quite effective against the Indian team. They were trailing by three points in the first quarter before Pawan Sehrawat, the Indian captain, inflicted an All-Out in the 12th minute, extending India's lead to 14-6. At the halfway stage, India led the match by 21-12.

Chinese Taipei's defence appeared impressive at the beginning of the second half, but the experienced Indian side kept the scoreboard ticking, further extending their lead. India returned with a much-improved offence and defence to maintain the momentum. India emerged victorious in the encounter with a scoreline of 53-19, securing their position at the top of the standings with 2 wins in 2 matches.

11th Asian Kabaddi Championship 2023, Day 1 Results:

Match 1: Iran beat Chinese Taipei 52-28

Match 2: India beat Korea 76-13

Match 3: Japan beat Hong Kong 85 -11

Match 4: India beat Chinese Taipei 53-19

Stay tuned to the website and the official Pro Kabaddi app for all the latest updates on the 11th Asian Kabaddi Championship.