Indian kabaddi star Pawan Sehrawat hailed the team’s Asian Games gold, saying no team can stop India’s dominance. He called the final against Iran ‘one-sided’ and urged the government to confer the Dronacharya Award upon his coach.
Indian kabaddi star Pawan Sehrawat hailed the team’s successful title defence at the ongoing Asian Games, saying that no team will be able to stop India’s dominance in the sport for years to come and will need a lot of preparation to do that.
India’s gold medal-winning kabaddi teams in men’s and women’s events arrived back home at Delhi airport on Sunday. Both Indian teams outclassed Iran in their respective gold medal matches.
‘Match against Iran felt one-sided’
Speaking to ANI about the gold medal win, Indian kabaddi star Pawan said to ANI that the match against Iran felt one-sided and that they need a lot of preparation to beat India. He also urged the central government to honour the kabaddi coach Randhir Sehrawat, a famed Indian kabaddi coach who is associated with Gujarat Giants in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), with the prestigious Dronacharya Award. Pawan represents Tamil Thalaivas in PKL and is a big name in the competition. He was also the male flag-bearer for India at the Asian Games opening ceremony. “I want to thank the entire nation for supporting kabaddi. I got goosebumps hearing the national anthem play. The match against Iran felt like a one-sided affair. There was a bit of competitiveness in the half-time, but other than that, it was one-sided. No one will be able to defeat us in the coming years; Iran will need time to prepare. I urge the government to confer the Dronacharya Award upon my coach, Randhir Sehrawat,” he said.
India’s historic run in Kabaddi
The men’s team produced a 40-34 victory, while the women’s side edged past Iran 37-34 to successfully defend their title. This campaign makes the Indian kabaddi team one of the finest teams ever to have played in the Asian Games.
Since the debut of the sport in men’s team competition at the 1990 Asian Games, India has won gold at nine out of ten editions, except for a bronze medal finish in the 2018 edition in Australia.
Women’s kabaddi was introduced in the 2010 edition, and since then, India has been among the medalists there too, having won four gold medals and a silver.
Overall, with 13 golds, a silver and a bronze each (total 15), India is the most successful team in kabaddi at the Asian Games, with Iran (two golds, six silvers and two bronzes, a total of ten medals) being the second-best side.
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