Kabaddi World Cup 2016: India VS Iran recap

In the second part of the Kabaddi World Cup championship match against Iran, India was unstoppable. India defeated a tenacious Iran team 38-29 to win the world championship in a match between two Kabaddi titans. At the TransStadia Arena in Ahmedabad, India produced a strong comeback in the second half, riding on a fantastic performance by Ajay Thakur's 12 points, sending the packed crowd into raptures.

The championship match resembled a boxing match as both teams traded blows and gave it their all. Sandeep Narwal and Ajay Thakur scored raid points to give India a 2-0 lead in the third minute. Iran's first point was scored by Meraj Sheykh in the fourth minute to tie the score at 2-2. When Iran's defence successfully stopped Pardeep Narwal, they took Ajay Thakur off the field to take the lead at 5-4 in the eighth minute.

As both teams battled valiantly and wouldn't yield even an inch, the game lived up to expectations. In the 10th minute, captain Anup Kumar scored his signature bonus point to tie the game at 6-6. Iran was leading 9-7 in the 13th minute when Meraj Sheykh scored on a brilliant raid and reduced India to just three men. India's defence struggled in the opening 15 minutes, recording just one tackle point. Iran reduced India to just two men, but in the 16th minute, Mohit Chhillar made a spectacular super tackle to once again limit the lead to just one point.

The Indian defence continued to struggle against Meraj Sheykh, but Nitin Tomar made a stunning attack and scored two points in the 18th minute as India fell behind 11–12. Iran caused the first all-out of the game in the 19th minute to lead 16-12 as India was once more down to one man. Iran's defence dominated the first half, doing an excellent job of stopping Indian raids as they held an 18-13 lead at the break. Pardeep Narwal and Manjeet Chhillar both received a score of 0 and their lacklustre efforts damaged India's hopes.

Iran forced errors from India when Manjeet Chhillar was knocked off the court by Meraj Sheykh during a raid in the 23rd minute, giving Iran a 19-13 advantage. India reduced the deficit to three points in the 25th minute thanks to two points from Ajay Thakur, who also forced Fazel Atrachali and Meraj Sheykh to the sidelines. Iran sent Pardeep Narwal to the sideline once more in the 28th minute as they lead 20-17. Ajay Thakur's tenth point, which tied the score at 20-20 in the 29th minute, flipped the game in India's favour. In the 30th minute, India inflicted their first all-out of the game to take a 24-21 lead and their largest lead of the game.

In the 34th minute, with India leading 29-22 and reducing Iran to two men, Nitin Tomar produced another outstanding raid. Iran was down 24-29 when Fazel Atrachali forced a great tackle in the 35th minute. In the 37th minute, Ajay Thakur scored two points and India inflicted another all-out to establish a commanding 34-24 lead, effectively ending the game in their favour. Iran was down 27-34 when Meraj Sheykh scored on a two-point attack in the 28th minute. Although India led 35-27, Surjeet made a superb tackle on Sheykh in the 39th minute. India won the game 37-30 thanks to an outstanding second half effort, winning the global championship for the third time.