Uttar Pradesh clinched the gold medal in men’s Kabaddi at the 38th National Games. The state pipped Chandigarh in the final match at the Yogasthali Khel Parisar, Roshnabad Stadium in Haridwar on Sunday, February 2.
Led by their captain Arjun Deshwal, Uttar Pradesh trumped Chandigarh 57-43 to win their second gold medal in three years at the National Games. They showed a team effort to win the competition.
In the initial stages of the first half, Uttar Pradesh were trailing 12-18 before they bounced back in an emphatic fashion to take a 25-22 lead.
Captain Arjun Deshwal, raider Vinay, right corner Sahul Kumar, all-rounder Nitin Panwar and talented Mohd Amaan, Uttar Pradesh consistently accumulated points.
Pawan Sehrawat-led Chandigarh featuring Vishal Bharadwaj, Gaurav Khatri, Vishal Chahal and Pawan Sehrawat put up brilliant efforts but had to settle for the silver medal.
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Meanwhile, in the women’s category, Himachal Pradesh secured the National Games gold medal for the third consecutive time.
They beat Haryana 27-22 in a closely contested final.
Led by captain Pushpa Rana, Himachal Pradesh remained unbeaten in women’s kabaddi.
In the final match, Himachal showed their intentions right from the start as they raced to a 3-0 lead. Haryana wanted to pin Pushpa down and once that happened they equaled the scores to 5-5. Once the Asian Games gold medalist returned to the mat, she quickly got her act together to achieve a remarkable lead, with a scoreline of 10-8 during halftime.
Himachal Pradesh doubled down in the second half to strengthen their lead and once they effected an all-out to get a healthy lead, it was down to consolidation as they slowed the game to which Haryana had no answers. Himachal took the finals 27-22 to complete their third Gold medal in three consecutive games. The team had also clinched a gold medal in the National Kabaddi Championship-2024.
