India's Kabaddi Team Dominates South Korea 63-31 at Asian Games
The Indian men’s kabaddi team barely broke stride. South Korea were swept aside 63-31 in a ruthless Group A display on Tuesday, a performance that underlined why India arrived at these Asian Games as defending champions and overwhelming favourites.
This was not a contest so much as a statement. India dominated the mat from the opening whistle, raiders streaming in waves, defenders snapping into tackles with the old swagger. By the end, the scoreboard read like a mismatch from a different tier of the sport, India sitting comfortably on top of Group A with two wins from two.
The schedule offers little time to bask. Bangladesh await on Wednesday, Chinese Taipei on Thursday, the final group fixture before the knockouts. On this evidence, the real question is not whether India progress, but who can possibly slow them down.
Women’s Kabaddi
On the women’s side, the script is still being written. India’s women opened their campaign with a win over Bangladesh on Monday and now face a far sterner test: Iran, in their second Group A match on Wednesday. That clash carries the weight of recent continental history, with Iran long established as India’s most awkward rival in women’s kabaddi.
Mixed Fortunes in Other Disciplines
Across town, it was a day of mixed fortunes and near misses for India in other disciplines.
In fencing, Hemash Sanasam and Sachin did enough to stay alive in the men’s foil individual event, both advancing to the round of 32 with identical records of three wins and two losses in their pools. Neither dominated, neither collapsed. They finished fourth in their respective groups, just steady enough to move on.
Now the draw gets serious. Hemash runs into Kazakhstan’s Galim Nurumov, while Sachin faces another Kazakh, Timofey Semyonov, in the next round. For both Indians, the margins will tighten and the room for error will shrink.
In the women’s epee individual event, Taniksha Khatri and Mitva Jesangbhai Chaudhari stepped into the fray, adding to India’s growing, if still nascent, footprint in Asian fencing.
Shooting Range Performance
On the shooting range, the day swung from promise to frustration in the space of a few hours.
Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane, already medallists in other events, shot superbly in qualification to reach the 10m air rifle mixed team final. Their 634.6 was good enough to secure a place among the top four, though still some way behind the Chinese pair of Wang Zifei and Sheng Lihao, who set a qualification world record with 638.9.
When the medals were on the line, India’s momentum stalled. Valarivan and Mane never quite found their rhythm in the final. China, South Korea and Japan pushed the pace; the Indian pair trailed from the outset and could not climb out of fourth place. Eliminated with 376.3, they left without a medal but with the unmistakable sense that the gap is not unbridgeable.
Karate
There was no such consolation for Chetan Bhatt on the karate mat.
Competing in the men’s Kumite 84kg category, Bhatt’s route to a bronze medal playoff had already been bruising. He had fallen 0-8 in the semifinal to Jordan’s Mohammad Aljafari at the Toyohashi Gymnasium, a defeat that left him clinging to one last chance.
The bronze bout against Chinese Taipei’s Meng-yu Chung turned into a tight, tactical contest. Both fighters scored one Yuko each, and the match finished locked at 1-1. The decision came down to Senshu, the rule that rewards the competitor who scores the first point. Chung had struck first. That was enough.
Bhatt walked away empty-handed, beaten not by the scoreline but by the fine print of the sport.
Other Events
Elsewhere, the day’s programme stretched across a wide canvas. Pakistan’s women’s cricket team chose to bat first against Bangladesh in the bronze medal match, while Pakistan’s men’s hockey side took on Uzbekistan in a Pool B clash. The Indian women’s and men’s hockey teams, already in the spotlight for their new saffron jerseys in their opening Asian Games fixtures, continued to navigate both tactical demands and off-field debate over kit colours.
On the shooting front, India’s new generation kept pushing. The men’s 10m air rifle team had already claimed silver, with Rudrankksh and Himanshu booking individual final berths. Himanshu Dhillon, driven by a belief that only gold truly counts, has set the tone for a squad that refuses to settle for second best. Parth Rakesh Mane, just 18 and already a silver medallist in the men’s 10m air rifle team event, has emerged as another face of this surge.
The schedule remains unforgiving. Indian athletes are spread across boxing, fencing, wushu, hockey, swimming, equestrian, karate, soft tennis, table tennis and esports, with each session carrying its own subplots and stakes.
Cricket and Badminton
On the cricket field, India and Sri Lanka prepare for yet another continental title clash, the latest chapter in a rivalry that now seems to find its way to every big-stage final. In badminton, India’s women’s team, led by P.V. Sindhu and Unnati Hooda among others, run into hosts Japan in the quarterfinals, with the men’s team set to face Japan later in the day.
For all the moving parts, one image lingers from this day: India’s kabaddi men, rampant and relentless, turning a group game into a show of strength. If this is the standard they intend to maintain, the rest of Asia has been warned.
