An hour for two points and a minute – that sums up the men’s kabaddi final between India and Iran at the Asian Games here on Saturday that started on a tense note, built up to a nail-biting climax and then, out of nowhere, descended into a chaotic, confusing farce that left both teams and their managements furious and amazed and critical of the refereeing before it was finally settled 33-29 in India’s favour.
India regained both the golds it lost five years ago to be crowned men’s and women’s champions but the tension around the women’s final in the morning that India won by a single point 26-25 against Chinese Taipei was nothing compared to what came in the evening. On a golden day for Indian sports that saw the country cross the 100-medal milestone and made history with a first-ever badminton gold, it was the bizarre drama at the Xiaoshan Guali Sports Centre that became the talking point.
The scores were level at 28-28 when India captain Pawan Sehrawat stepped up for a raid. He tried to tag an Iranian defender but was unable to do so and instead stepped out in the lobby with the Iranians in pursuit. One of the Iranian players lost his balance and stepped out of bounds at the back. And that’s when everything went downhill and into the chasm of confusion around the rules as both teams read them.
