Iran Beat India as Women Lose Kabaddi Gold for 1st Time at Asiad

India were shocked 24-27 in a thrilling final as the firm favourites settled for silver.

The Iranian women emulated their male counterparts, who had shocked seven-time champions India in the semi-finals on Friday.

(Photo: PTI)

After the men’s team knocked out their Indian counterpart from the Asian Games, the Iranian women’s kabaddi team also edged past the Indian side to win their first gold in kabaddi at the Asian Games.

The two-time defending champions were shocked 24-27 in a thrilling final as the firm favourites settled for silver.

This is the first time the Asiad will see a team other than India win the gold medal. The Indians had won both the previous editions since women’s kabaddi was included in the Asian Games programme at Guangzhou 2010.

This is a historic win for Iran as they now have both their men's and women's teams in the kabaddi finals for the first time. The Iranian women, who took silver at Incheon 2014, will now meet South Korea in the final. The Koreans also have both their men's and women's teams in the finals.

For India, this was a devastating blow, especially after their men's team were outplayed by Iran in Thursday's semi-finals.

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Indian women’s kabaddi team members tackle down an Iranian raider in the finals at the Asian Games 2018.

The first half was a well-balanced affair before Iran gradually asserted their supremacy as the match wore on.

The Indians enjoyed a slender lead in the initial few minutes before the Iranians gradually found their rhythm.

Payel and Sonali were effective with their raids while the defenders also handled the tackles well as the Indians raced to a 7-3 lead.

While the Indian defenders struggled to get their act together, the Iran defence was tighter and their attackers reaped rich rewards by repeatedly targeting the bonus line.

The most dangerous looking Iranian was Azadeh Saidisiahbidi but she was forced out after a successful tackle.

Randeep Kaur went for a raid after Iran's two-point raid but she was unsuccessful as Iran gradually reduced the deficit to 6-7.

Randeep though made amends in the next attempt with a two-point raid, pushing India ahead 13-8.

Azadeh touched out Ritu and Manpreet and captain Payel was caught by the Iranian defenders as India led 13-11 at the end of first half.

An unsuccessful Indian raid in the final seconds killed the defending champion’s hope of retaining their crown.

Immediately after the restart, a couple of failed raids and some poor defending by India saw Iran tighten their grip on the match as they inflicted an all out on the defending champions.

Kavita then fumbled her tackle which gave away a cheap point to an Iranian raider.

The Indians tried to make a comeback as Sayali took bonus to reduce the margin to two while skipper Payal Chowdhury took another couple of points in the next Indian raid.

But consecutive raid points and a successful tackle by Iran maintained their advantage.

The Indians continued their attempts to chip away the lead, but the poor defence by the Indians continued to leak points as Iran held on to the three-point lead. An unsuccessful raid by Payal saw Iran increase their lead to four points.

The match was set up for a dramatic finish as Sakshi produced a three-point raid to bring the deficit to a single point and give India hope.

But Iran immediately hit back with a point in the very next raid before an unsuccessful Indian raid in the final seconds killed the defending champion's hope of retaining their crown.