India’s women and men win opening matches at Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship

India began their Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship campaigns with convincing wins in Ahmedabad on Friday. The women thrashed Malaysia 73-13, while the men defeated England 46-26. Sakshi led the women’s scoring with 13 points, and Naveen Kumar top-scored for the men

Hyderabad: India made a winning start to their Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship campaigns on Friday, with the women registering a commanding 73-13 victory over Malaysia before the men defeated England 46-26 at the Veer Savarkar Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The Indian women dominated from the outset, racing to a 20-3 lead before extending their advantage to 30-11 at half-time. Led by captain Nidhi Sharma, who scored eight raid points, India controlled the contest in both raiding and tackling. They finished with 40 raid points and 20 tackle points, compared with Malaysia’s nine raid points and two tackle points, while inflicting six All-Outs without conceding one.

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Sakshi led the scoring with 13 points, including eight raid points and five tackle points, while Renuka made an impressive contribution off the bench, scoring nine raid points from nine raids. Anu added six points, while Karthika Ramesh and Jyoti contributed six and four tackle points, respectively. Malaysia captain Darsini led her side with three raid points.

India stepped up their dominance after the break, winning the second half 43-2, with Renuka scoring seven points from six raids, before completing the rout with a 20-0 scoreline in the final quarter.

India’s men followed with a convincing 46-26 win over England, with Naveen Kumar and Neeraj Narwal leading the charge. Captain Surjeet Singh’s side won the raid battle 32-23 and the tackle battle 8-3, while inflicting three All-Outs without conceding one.

Naveen finished as India’s leading scorer with 12 points, including 11 raid points and one tackle point, while Neeraj Narwal contributed 11 raid points.