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Indians enter World Cup Kabaddi final November 21, 2004 17:09 IST
Title favourites India sailed into the final with a thumping 39-19 victory over Bangladesh in the semi-finals on the third and the final day of the first ever World Cup Kabaddi tournament in Mumbai on Sunday.
The hosts, who were leading 12-5 at the breather in a slow paced match, lived up to their top billing with some calculated moves. Their skipper Sanjiva Kumar and Manpreet Singh, with 10 points each, saw to it that their team took an early lead in a low scoring match.
However, the plucky Bangladeshis spearheaded by Zia-ur-Rehman (4), man-of-the-match Al Mamum (3) and Mohammed Bashir Ahmmad (4) threw up a spirited challenge but found the Indians hard to beat.
In the second semi-finals, Iran crushed Canada 54-28, after leading 31-9 at half time. Hadi, who shone as an allround player was declared man-of-the-match.
Bangladesh, who collected Rs 50,000 for making in to the last four stage, had beaten Japan 33-24, after leading by a single point (12-11) at lemon time in the quarter-finals last night while the Indians had got a bye directly to the semi-finals after heading Pool-A with three wins in the league stage.
Mohammed Bashir Ahmmed was declared man-of-the-match for top scoring with nine points to his credit while Zia-ur Rehman (8) also put up a good show.
Japan skipper Suga Yoshinon played well for the losers.
In the other quarter-finals, man-of-the-match Kulwinder Singh steered Canada to a 66-28 win over United Kingdom after leading 32-11 at the breather. Kulwinder Singh top scored with eight points.
Results (semi-finals): India beat Bangladesh 39-19 (HT 12-5), Iran beat Canada 54-28 (HT 31-9).
Quarter-finals: Bangladesh beat Japan 33-24 (12-11), Canada beat United Kingdom 66-28 (32-11).
