Kabaddi: Pakistan clinch gold at beach games

Kabaddi team overcomes arch-rivals India in final.

KARACHI: Pakistan kabaddi team clinched the gold medal at the first South Asian Beach Games after defeating arch-rivals Indian 42-33 in Hambantota, Sri Lanka yesterday.

Pakistan beat Sri Lanka in their first match  before overcoming India 47-32 and Nepal 66-20 to finish on top of the group ahead of India. In the final, the team overcame a strong Indian side, edging out the arch-rivals to win the kabaddi gold and clinch their first medal at the Beach Games where Pakistan are also taking part in the handball, netball and bodybuilding events.

“We are proud to win the first medal for the country,” Pakistan Kabaddi Federation Secretary Muhammad Sarwar told The Express Tribune. “We predicted a Pakistan-India final and it’s a good feeling that we’ve overcome them.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2011.