Hangzhou, Oct 2 (FN Agency) The Indian women’s kabaddi team were stunned by Chinese Taipei in a thrilling 34-all tie at the Xiaoshan Guali Sports Centre in the Asian Games 2023 here on Monday.At one point of time, India were leading Chinese Taipei by 7 points, but lost the plot due to their late assault in the second half. They will compete with South Korea in their next match tomorrow.India has a very difficult task at hand as they have never won in straight two matches at the Asian Games, having lost their previous match, the finals at Jakarta 2018.Pooja Hathwala starred for India as she inflicted a crucial all-out in the first half, but the Chinese Taipei came back strongly in the second half ending the match in a tie.Both the teams played contrasting games. The Chinese Taipei focussed on getting bonus points in the first five minutes, while India adopted a cautious approach. Hsiu-Chen Feng played a crucial role in the first 10 minutes as India lagged behind for most of the first half. However, Pooja Hathwala inflicted an all-out on Chinese Taipei, helping India go into the break with a two-point lead at 17-15 after obtaining five point in a super raid that included three raid points.
India seemed to be running away with the contest on the back of quick raid points in the first five minutes of the second half. The Indian defence tackled Hsiu-Chen Feng to dent Chinese Taipei’s challenge further and build a seven-point lead at 27-20.Chinese Taipei mounted a comeback and revived their star raider soon. They produced multi-point raids and inflicted an all-out on India to claw their way back into the game. From trailing by seven points, Chinese Taipei led India 32-30 in the dying moments. With all Indian players back on the mat after the all out, India wrestled back control of the match and led by a point with less than 10 seconds to go for the final whistle. A bonus point from Chinese Taipei on the final raid ended the match in a tie. Next, India will take on the Republic of Korea in their second match on Tuesday and play Thailand in their final group match on Wednesday. The top two teams from the group will qualify for the semi-finals on Friday.Kabaddi at the Asian Games 2023 will conclude with the women’s final on Saturday.