Kabaddi Masters: India thrash lackluster Pakistan to enter semis
Dubai, June 25: India sealed the semi-final spot, thrashing arch-rivals Pakistan 41-17 in Group A match of the Kabaddi Masters at the Al Wasl Sports Club here on Monday.
This was India's third consecutive win in this six-nation tournament and second win against Pakistan. Men-in-Blue will now face Kenya in a dead rubber on Tuesday.
It seemed like Pakistan had not learnt from their last defeat against India as they were making same mistakes on the mat. India, on the other hand, had a clear strategy of defending rather than to attack on their opponents half.
Rishank, Girish, Mohit and skipper Ajay Thakur continued to impress as they outplayed Pakistan easily.
Commenting on the crucial tie, Indian coach Srinivas Reddy said: "I knew the margin will be bigger this time. This time is was completed effort. Rohit's raid completely changed the match. I just asked by players to enjoy the match and that provided us the result.
"Our strength is raid. We have best raiders in the world. I asked my boys that every raid is a do-or-die and that paid off," he added.
Coming back to the match, Both teams started off on a good note but India slowly took two points lead through Ajay.
Some good defence from Mohit and Girish in the corners took few points and forced Pakistan to play with one man.
Rohit took the task to inflict the first all out of the match and got rid of lone-man Nadeem to make it 12-3 in just 10 minutes of play.
With just three minutes left in the first half, Pakistan got another jolt when their skipper Nasir got injured and was replaced.
India kept on swelling their lead through some brilliant defending while Pakistan struggled to hold India.
At the end of the first half, it was 18-9 in favour of India. The change of ends saw some more brilliant and composed game by the Indian players.
Ajay, once again proved why is one of the best raiders in the country, when he inflicted an all-out in just five minutes of the second half play to make scoreboard read 25-11.
There was no match of India in rest of the second half. Even the comeback of Nasir, who got injured, could not do anything impressive as India kept on taking points along with one more all-out towards the end to seal the issue comfortably.
In the other match, Iran also sealed their place in the semi finals, defeating South Korea 31-27 in a
closely contested match.
Korea squandered an early lead only to fight back in the second half but it was in vain. Mohammed Maghsoudlou scored 12 points and Mohammed Nabibaksh also contributed in attack and defence to lead Iran to victory.
Jang Kun Lee scored seven points and Dong Ju Hong scored five points for Korea.
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Bypolls: K'taka Cong Minority Abdul Jabbar chief resigns amid allegations of 'internal conspiracy'
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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Congress Minority Department President K Abdul Jabbar announced his resignation from the post on Saturday, a day after a group of Muslim leaders accused members of their own party of "conspiring" to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South.
Jabbar, an MLC, was an aspirant for the Congress ticket from the Davanagere South Assembly segment.
"It has been an honor for me to serve as Chairman of the KPCC Minority department and have worked to the best of my ability during assembly elections 2023 and followed by Parliament polls and many such occasions whenever the party needed the minority department and showed results. I have toured the entire state of Karnataka and worked to align the minorities with Congress values and principles. Most of it is available in the public domain," Jabbar has said in a letter to the party.
"Minority voters and minority office bearers are the backbone of our great Congress party and certainly deserve better," he said.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President, confirmed Jabbar's resignation.
"I won't speak about this now, I have got some reports. The Minority President has submitted his resignation. I will verify things, I will seek a report from local leaders after that I will speak," he told reporters in response to a question on internal conspiracy.
A rift within the Karnataka Congress surfaced on Friday, a day after the bypolls to two Assembly constituencies in the state, as a group of Muslim leaders alleged a "conspiracy" by some of their own senior party leaders to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South.
However, they asserted that despite efforts by some within to project that Congress "betrayed" Muslims, the party candidate Samarth Mallikarjun will win in Davanagere South, the constituency where the community has a significant presence.
They said the party finally named Samarth Mallikarjun as the candidate after considering all factors and taking all Muslim leaders into confidence. Despite this, a massive campaign, including from some within the party, projected the Congress as having "betrayed" the minorities by denying them tickets.
Chief Whip in the Legislative Council Saleem Ahmed, MLAs Rizwan Arshad, Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, MLC Bilkis Bano, and other Congress leaders addressed a joint press conference on Friday, claiming an "internal conspiracy".
According to party sources, these Muslim leaders have also complained to AICC and state party leadership, alleging "internal sabotage" in Davanagere South.
Though the leaders did not name anyone, several party sources said their attack was directed at State Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan and Jabbar among others.
Khan, who had openly demanded the Davanagere South ticket for a Muslim candidate, initially stayed away from campaigning in the constituency, citing his Kerala poll responsibilities.
However, he addressed a press meet with Samarth's father and Minister SS Mallikarjun at the request of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Jabbar too had not actively participated in the campaigning, despite hailing from Davanagere.
Bypolls for Davanagere South were held along with Bagalkot on Thursday. The election was necessitated following the death of sitting MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti respectively. Samarth is the grandson of Shivashankarappa.
Muslim disgruntlement appears to be a concern for the Congress in Davanagere South. With 14 of the 25 candidates in the fray belonging to the community, there are apprehensions within the party about a split in votes, which could benefit the BJP.
Given its significant presence in the constituency, the Muslim community strongly demanded the Congress ticket for Davanagere South. Some party factions had opposed giving the ticket to the Shamanur family.
Although the Congress was successful in persuading rebel candidate Sadiq Pailwan to withdraw from the contest, he remained in the fray as the move came after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations.
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