India’s Kabaddi Shocker at Asian Games: What Went Wrong?

India were the seven-time defending champions in men’s kabaddi at the Asian Games. What led to their defeat?

Seven-time defending champions India were beaten in the men’s semi-finals by Iran and had to settle for bronze.

(Photo: PTI)

The Day After is always a tough one, especially in the wake of a numbing verdict in the sporting arena. Of course, we are told that victory and defeat are two imposters and that we must embrace them similarly. However, in reality, a defeat such as the one encountered by the Indian men’s kabaddi team in the Asian Games semifinals is a hard one to accept.

Like the aftershocks that follow a major earthquake, shock and disbelief continue to haunt fans of Indian sport in the wake of the team’s failure to make it to the final for the first time in Asian Games history. A winning streak that began in 1990 when kabaddi was introduced in the Games schedule came to a sad – even humiliating end at the hands of Iran.

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Of course, the Iran team played smart and superb kabaddi to outfox the Indians and on Thursday night’s showing, deserved to romp into the final. Iran had been denied in Incheon four years ago. It had been inspired by South Korea’s defeat of the Indian team earlier this week to inflict a larger shock on the seven-time Asian Games champions.

What Went Wrong?

The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India’s (AKFI) choice of coaches and other support staff has to come in for criticism. If the players and coaches did not respond to Iran’s tactics during Super Tackle, a populist innovation brought in to please commercial supporters, the AKFI officials can cop the blame for not planning national camps as well as many other federations did.

The belief that the Indian team would just need to turn up in Jakarta and claim the gold medal was rooted in a wrong premise. The officials were lulled into thinking that since India had beaten both Korea and Iran in the Dubai Kabaddi Masters in June, the team’s hegemony would continue uninterrupted in Jakarta.

It would appear that they had all but forgotten the close encounter in the final in Incheon, Korea, four years ago. And assumed that the Dubai Kabaddi Masters would be an indication of team-work and form. Worse, they believed that the same form would extend to Jakarta. Shockingly, the team’s raiders seemed clueless when it came to Super Tackles.

The errors made on the mat and in its sidelines are only a product of the mistakes perpetrated in boardrooms. The selection of players for the Asian Games has come in for much criticism well before the two defeats by Korea in the league stage and Iran in the semifinals. The petition in the Delhi High Court is evidence of that.

Federation to Blame?

If any sincere inquisition is held into the debacle, it is more likely than not that it will be traced to the machinations of a few within the AKFI. The charges that players and team officials from a state or a couple of professional league teams have been favoured may come to stick. The dark backstage decisions will have their own tales to tell.

Raju Lal Choudhary’s choice ahead of Surjeet Singh, for instance, has been the subject of much talk. Few understand this decision since the former has not been much in action in the domestic league despite turning out for at least a couple of teams. The kabaddi addicts will vouch for the fact that Surjeet Singh, among the best, should have been an automatic pick.

There would be other revelations, too including the inability of the players to forge unity, perhaps divided by professional teams and not united in their basic purpose of representing India. Quite sadly, there is talk of a class divide within the ranks of the players, with their salaries being the determining factor. Of course, it is tough to establish this as a fact.

All members of the Indian kabaddi team have contracts with PKL franchises.(Photo: PTI)

PKL Fame Coming in the Way?

There is no doubt that good wages for the players would bring along financial stability in their lives. The moot question is: Are the players psychologically equipped to deal with the influx of money in their accounts? By all accounts, most kabaddi players do not have a support system that would keep them grounded.

There would be every attempt to brush aside the impact of the Pro Kabaddi League and the money it brings along but the fact is that players from rustic backgrounds haven’t learnt to deal with the changes. Unlike some from the farming community, most who have stumbled upon good commercial deals have not been able to keep their feet on ground.

Back in 1960, when the Indian hockey team lost its control of the Olympic Games gold medal, the backlash would not have been as strong as it possibly will be for the kabaddi side now. In the present day where social media networks are hyperactive, it will be imperative for the kabaddi team to show intent.

The problem is pretty straightforward. Nobody knows when the Indian team will next come together to be able to showcase unity of purpose. With the focus on having two league seasons, there seems very little scope for the national team to be picked and trained in the foreseeable future. Typically, people tend to forget things, but this defeat is not easy to erase from memory.

All good things must come to an end. As did India’s streak of Asian Games gold medal victories. Hopefully, this would lead to new beginnings. It would be a crying shame if Indian kabaddi has to go through the long churning process that its hockey has been subject to on its way back to the world’s elite teams. If it does, the professional league will cop more blame than it deserves.