The Indian men's Kabaddi team kept its unbeaten streak alive after defeating Japan 62-17 in their Asian Kabaddi Championships 2023 match in Busan, South Korea on Wednesday, clinching their third successive win at the tournament.
Aslam Inamdar, who was impressive on his debut against Korea on Tuesday, got his second Super 10 of the tournament and emerged as the top scorer in the match. Parvesh Bhainswal led India in their defence, as per Olympics.com.
Both India and Japan came into the match after two massive wins. Japan had won 85-11 against Hong Kong and 45-18 against Korea previously, while India had won by 76-13 against Korea and 53-19 against Chinese Taipei. But Japan had no answers for the game that Team India played.
India inflicted six all-outs in Japan, with three of them coming in each half. The defending champions scored their first all-out in the fourth minute itself and raced to a lead of 18-0 before Japan managed to get some points in the eighth minute. India ended the first half with a scoreline of 32-6 in their favour.
Skipper Pawan Sehrawat emerged as Team India's top raider with six points in the first half. Japan performed better in the second half and scored some quick points. But India was just too good and managed to win the match by 45 points. India will take on Iran in their highly-anticipated match on Thursday.
Iran is also unbeaten in the tournament so far. The Asian Championships include six teams: India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Hong Kong. The final will be held on Friday and will include the top two teams from the single-leg round-robin competition.
