Ahmedabad: India may have looked like they were struggling at the end of the first half of the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup, but captain Anup Kumar believes that his side were never really under much pressure against Iran, at the Transstadia in Ahmedabad, on Saturday.
The Iranians had gotten off to a great start, using their strong defence to reign in the Indian raiders. This resulted in the hosts going into half-time with a five point lead.
However, India came charging out of the dugouts in the second half, and completely turned the match around, to clinch their third World Cup title in as many editions of the tournament.
“We never really came under pressure. We might have been down, but that did not affect us,” said skipper Anup.
“Even a 10-12 point difference is not much in kabaddi. We had the full confidence to get the match back on level terms in the second half. Plus the coaches did really well to give us a lot of confidence at half time.”
The Kabaddi World Cup was being played under new rules for the first time. However, when asked about these rules, Anup opined that the change in rules in International Kabaddi did not really affect the Indians, most of whom are already acquainted with these rules.
“We have been playing with these new rules in Pro Kabaddi League for some time now. So that did not really affect us,” said Anup.
Victory dedicated to soldiers who died in Uri attacks
Balwan Singh was all smiles after the match. Having watched his side complete a wonderful comeback against Iran, Balwan took a moment to dedicate the victory to the army personnel, who got injured or lost their lives in the Uri attacks.
The gaffer also went on to say some wise words for the nation: “Yeh desh humara mandir hain. Mandir, masjid, gurudwara, yeh sab humara ek hain.” (This country is our temple. Temples, mosques and gurudwaras are all the same for us).
