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Tribune News Service
Bathinda, December 5
The US team defeated Kenya 50-31 points during the ongoing special edition of the International Kabaddi Cup to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev here at the Multipurpose Sports Stadium here on Thursday. While India beat Australia in the first match, US defeated Kenya in the second one. A sizeable number of spectators from both rural and urban areas of the district thronged the stadium to watch the matches.
Deputy Commissioner B Srinivasan presided over the event as the chief guest. He, along with officials of the district administration and the Sports Department, was introduced to the players from different teams, which marked the beginning of the matches. Renowned Punjabi singer Balvir Chotiya performed and enthralled the spectators on the occasion.
A large number of spectators turned up at the stadium to watch matches. In the morning, many buses started dropping spectators from rural areas near the entrance of the stadium.
In the first match played between US and Kenya, the former managed to take a lead of four points ending the first quarter with a score of 12-8 points. Kenyan raiders and stoppers also showcased their agility, strength and grit during the match, but the US team players barely left any loopholes to let them score or surpass them.
By the end of the third quarter, the US team had secured a lead of 17 points with points table displaying USA 38 and Kenya 21. In the final quarter, US managed to capitalise on the lead they had taken in first three quarter while Kenya scored 10 points to end the match with 50-31 points and the former winning the match by a margin of 19 points.
In the second match of the day, India defeated Australia by 48-34 points. Till the end of the first quarter, it was a neck-and-neck fight between both teams with India scoring 14 points against Australia’s 6 points. In the second quarter, India dominated and scored 30 points while restricting its opponent to 9 points. Australians made a comeback in the third quarter and scored 13 points (total 22 points) and restricted India to 40 points. In the final quarter, despite putting in efforts Australia could not make up for the point difference in the first and third quarters, losing the match by a margin of 14 points (48-34 final score).
The cup, organised by the state government, started at Guru Nanak Stadium, Sultanpur Lodhi, on December 1 and after hosting matches in different cities of the state, the final matches would take place at Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur on December 8.
Additional Chief Secretary, Sports Department, Sanjay Kumar, Deputy Director, Kartar Singh, Director Tournament and Kabaddi association vice-president Tejinder Singh Middukhera and Additional Deputy Commissioner Sukhpreet Singh Sidhu and other dignitaries were present.