Ajay Thakur’s brilliant performance in the second half helped India to register a 38-29 win in the finals of Kabbadi World Cup 2016 held at Ahmedabad. In the first half Iran had outplayed India to take 18-13 lead but India showed their class in the second half and won the match with ease.
In the finals Iran won the toss and chose the court. The first raids of both teams went empty. Ajay Thakur got the first point for India. Abdul Faizel equalled the score for India. Both teams were equal at 3-3. The Iran captain Shekyh got 2 points which made helped them to lead at 9-7. In the 17th minute a super tackle helped India to reduce the gap to 9-11. In the last minute India were all out and gave Iran 17-12 for an ultimate half time score of 18-13.
After the break the Indian team made a strong comeback into the match. Manjeet Chillar was self out. In the 5th minute Ajay Thakur got two points to reduce the gap to 17-19. India produced some excellent Kabbadi as their defence and raiders came to the party. In the 10th minute India got Iran all out for the first time and forged the lead for the first time at 24-21. Ajay Thakur got four successive raid points and ultimately completed his super 10 in the match and fourth time in the tournament which changed the whole completion of the game. The Indian produced wonderful Kabbadi. In the 16th minute Nitin Tomar got two points which made it 30-24 in favour of India. Ajay Thakur then produced another 4 points which made India the Kabbadi World Cup 2016 champions. Iran tried their best but India produced excellent Kabbadi to win the match 39-28.
Ajay Thakur raids in the second half to change the fortune of the match in India’s favour.