India’s women finished their group 184-57, and the men made it four from four against Nigeria

India’s women have finished the group stage of the first Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship with four wins from four. They beat Nigeria 38-10 in Ahmedabad on Monday evening, which leaves them on eight points, a total nobody else in Group A can now reach. They are top of the group and into Friday’s semi-finals.

The men followed them onto the mat at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex and beat Nigeria 50-23. That is four wins from four for them too, but their group has seven teams and two hard games left.

184 points scored, 57 conceded

The women’s numbers across the week are hard to argue with. They beat Malaysia 73-13, Singapore 32-16, Uganda 41-18 and now Nigeria 38-10. That is 184 points scored and 57 conceded, and no opponent has reached 20 against them.

Uganda were supposed to be the closest rivals in the group, and Sunday’s game showed how big the gap is. India were 22-9 up at half-time and won 41-18. Captain Nidhi Sharma top-scored with nine points, Sakshi had eight and Anu Sen seven. Namataka Beatrice was Uganda’s best raider with seven.

Nigeria came in with a win behind them, 43-20 over Singapore on Sunday, but they managed only ten points on Monday. Uganda beat Malaysia 35-23 earlier in the day and are second in the group with one game left, against Nigeria on Wednesday.

Neeraj Narwal and a quiet second half

The men’s win over Nigeria was never in doubt. Nigeria had already lost 66-17 to Tanzania and 68-18 to England.

Sunday’s 37-23 win over Malaysia told more about this side. India were 27-11 up at half-time, and Malaysia actually won the second half 12-10. Neeraj Narwal scored 13 points and Bharat Hooda added six.

I wouldn’t read much into a side easing off once the game is won. But the two games left are the hardest on India’s list, and Sri Lanka will not hand them a quiet 20 minutes.

Tanzania, then Sri Lanka

India have eight points from four games. Sri Lanka have won all three of theirs, and they did not play on Monday. Uganda beat England 47-22 and Malaysia beat Tanzania 43-26 earlier in the day, which keeps the chasing pack bunched on four points or fewer.

India play Tanzania on Tuesday. Win that and only Sri Lanka could still finish above them on points, because Uganda and England can reach eight at most. India and Sri Lanka meet on Thursday 29 October, the last day of the group stage, and that game should settle who tops Group A.

In the women’s Group B, Kenya beat England 82-6 on Monday and Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh 31-20. Both semi-finals are on Friday 30 October, and both gold medal matches are on Saturday 31 October, all in Ahmedabad.

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