It was a fitting finale in Kabaddi as the Indian Women held their nerves to win the gold medal by defeating Chinese Taipei in the final. In a very close encounter, the Indian Women managed to seal a 26-25 win to give the nation its 25th gold medal in this edition of the Asian Games. This is also India’s historic 100th medal.
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This is India’s third gold medal from the four editions of the Women’s Kabaddi in Asian Games. They have also reclaimed their position at the top of the podium after bagging the silver medal in 2018 at Jakarta.
Both India and Chinese Taipei played out a 34-34 draw earlier in the group stage in this edition of the Asian Games. The final also went as close as it could get. However the women in blue managed to run down the clock with a one-point lead to win the title.
Indian Women managed to get a slender lead from the start and maintained it to get into the half-time with the score at 14-9. However in the second-half, the Chinese Taipei made a comeback.
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Nervy final moments in the Asian Games final
With just four minutes left in the contest, Chinese Taipei silenced the Indian dugout as they inflicted an all-out on India. This helped them get to a 21-19 lead. Two touch points and a bonus point from Pooja took India back to a slender 22-21 lead.
At 24-24, Pushpa Rana claimed a touchpoint. The umpires after reviewing it gave the point to India’s favour. The women in blue held their nerves and went on to maintain the lead in the final two raids to seal the victory.
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