Asian Games: India bag gold in men’s kabaddi, beat Iran in goof-up final

HANGZHOU: In a highly intense thriller amid referee's goof-up, India clinched yet another gold at the Asian Games after defeating Iran 33-29 in the kabaddi men's final, here on Saturday.

Indian team was trailing by three points (6-9), before the halfway stage of the first half, however, India, after going down 9-12 at one point, came back strong to finish 17-14 at the end of the first half against Iran.

With just over a minute remaining, and scores tied 28-28, in the match, Pawan Sehrawat from the Indian team was forced to go in for a do-or-die raid.

During his raid, Pawan went out of bounds without making contact with any Iranian defender.

In response, Amirhossein Bastami and three other Iranian defenders rushed towards Pawan in an attempt to push him out.

This led to a moment of confusion, as it was unclear whether Pawan had been successfully tackled or not.

Initially, Iran was awarded a point for their efforts to stop Pawan.

However, the Indian contingent, including players and officials, began arguing with the on-court umpire and the TV officials.

After further review and perhaps another referral, the officials decided to award four points to India. It’s mentioned that the number of points could vary depending on the number of players who went out with Pawan.

The final decision seems to be based on both old and new rules. According to the old rule, India would get four (or possibly five) points, while the new rule would give one point to each team because one of the Iranian defenders (Bastami) went out of the line (self-out).

As per the new IKF (International Kabaddi Federation) rule, India was given three points and Iran received one point.

This decision led to protests from the Iranian team.

However, in the end, it was India, that won the final 33-29 after a thrilling finale that was interrupted for a long time.