Iran’s supremacy in the Asian Games men’s kabaddi — especially outplayed India in the semifinals before bringing down South Korea in the final — has disappointed, but not surprised Raju Bhavsar, a member of the 1990 gold medal-winning Indian team at the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990.
“Iran’s goal was not the World Cup or the Dubai Kabaddi Masters… Iran targeted the Asian Games gold medal. And it won it.
“It was well-prepared as if one would for war. India beat Iran 27-25 in the Incheon 2014 final. And since then, Iran has been aiming for the gold,” said Bhavsar, the 1996 Arjuna award winner.
Talking to The Hindu with a tinge of sadness following the men and women’s teams failing to win the gold medal for the first time in 28 years (India has won seven gold medals in a row), Bhavsar said, “I had the occasion to chat with Iran’s top player Fazel Atrachali during the ProKabaddi [League] and he always used to tell me that for Iran, ‘Asian Games gold is the ultimate’.
Bhavsar also pointed out flawed selections in the Indian team.
“India dropped an efficient right-cover like Surjeet Singh. He was picked for the World Cup, Kabaddi Masters and the Asian Championships, but not for the Asian Games. India did not pick a specialist left-cover also.
The coach plays a very important part in Kabaddi; this aspect was also missing,” he said.
