Fortress Raided

As Indian kabaddi loses its golden sheen, the stage is now set for wider popularity of the sport

- Anirudh Madhavan/Jakarta

 

THE IRANIANS SLAPPED their thighs in victory, but it felt like a slap on India’s face. For the first time in 28 years, ever since kabaddi was introduced at the Asian Games, the Indian men’s team had failed to make the final. Iran, which has replaced Pakistan as India’s rival in the sport, had been snapping at the champions’ heels for the past few years and, on August 23, finally caught up, announcing its golden ambition in the semifinal at the Theatre Garuda in Jakarta.

The Iranians had gathered past losses in their minds, but played as if they had forgotten, as if it was they who had dominated the sport for decades. The match ended 27-18, and the Indians wept. The women had a slightly better campaign, reaching the final. However, they, too, fell to Iran, 24-27. And they, too, wept.

In the aftermath, as everyone reeled from the shock, there were claims that it was an inside job. No, not the controversial selection decisions, though they could have played a part. This was about the two coaches who plotted to fell India.

A few days before the semifinal against Iran, the men’s team was handed its first defeat in Asian Games history, a close 23-24 loss, by the South Koreans in the group stage. Korea’s coach Ashan Kumar Sang-wan, incidentally, was the man who captained India to gold in 1990, when the sport was introduced at the Asian Games. “For us [as Indians], this was the worst that could have happened,” Sangwan told THE WEEK. “We had been winning like tigers. [But, this result means] there is some weakness. The team is good, the players are good. But, the way they were told to play was wrong.”