2016 Kabaddi World Cup final: Numbers favour India against gritty Iran

India will take on Iran in the final of the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

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Kanishk Sharma
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2016 Kabaddi World Cup final: Numbers favour India against gritty Iran

A combination photo shows Indian and Iranian Kabaddi players during the world cup tournament. Image: www.2016kabaddiworldcup.com/

Seven-time defending champions India will face Iran in the final of the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

The title decider will be a key match for India to once again stamp its authority on the game in its own backyard. 

The hosts beat Thailand 73-20 to storm into the final proving their supremacy and prowess in the sport whereas Iran defeated South Korea in a low-scoring thriller to set the summit with India after coming back from 11-13 down to beat there opponents by 28-22.

Read: Kabaddi World Cup 2016: India storm into final, crush Thailand 73-20 

Just by looking at the scores of the two semi-finals, it is natural to assume that it may turn out to be a cake walk for the defending champions but make no mistakes here as it may go the other way as well.  

Overall, it has been an all-round performance by the hosts with their skipper Anup Kumar leading from the front. Star raiders Anup Kumar, Pradeep Narwal and Rahul Chaudhari too have been among the top raiders in the group stages of the competition.

The Iranians are considered as the stalwarts of Kabaddi in west Asia. After Pakistan backed off from the competition, Iranian players were deemed title contenders due to their steely performances in the group state. 

Here is a head-to-head comparison of 3 key players from both the sides:

Successful tackles

Indian players                      Tackles

Manjeet Chhillar                22

Surender Nada                  20

Surjeet                            20

Iranian players                    Tackles

Fazel Atrachali                   18

Abozar Mohajer Mighani       16

Farhad Rahimi Milaghardan   12

Sucessful Raids

Indian Players                    Raids

Aajay Thakur                      44

Pardeep Narwal                  39

Rahul Chaudhari                  19

Iranian players                  Raids

Meraj Sheykh                     19

Gholamabbas Korouki          17

Mohsen Maghsoudloujafari    13

Read this news in Hindi

India Vs Iran 2016 Kabaddi World Cup 2016 Kabaddi World Cup final