Indian men defeat Pakistan to lift Kabaddi World Cup title

Ludhiana (Punjab): For the third consecutive time, India won the men's final of the World Kabaddi Cup here on Saturday by crushing arch-rivals Pakistan 59-22. It was a one-sided match and Indian players dominated the game right from the beginning and maintained an initial lead till 9-0.

With the title of World Cup Kabaddi, India got a prize money of Rs.2 crore and Pakistan took home Rs.1 crore while Canada clinched the third prize of Rs.51 Lakh. At the end of the first half, India lead with a point difference of 34-9. India's raider Gagandeep Singh Gaggi Kheeranwali, Gurlal Ghanaur, Manminder Singh Sran and Sukhbir Sarawan bagged 10, 8, 8 and 7 points respectively whereas stoppers Ekam Hathur, Balbir Pala and Gurwinder Kahlwan scored 10, 7 and 4 points respectively.

Pakistan's raiders Safeeq Butt and Mohammad Imran scored 5 and 3 points respectively while Pakistani stopper Sujad Gujjar bagged 5 points.

Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal met the players and formally inaugurated the match.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, Pakistan Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Rana Masood Ahmed, Pakistan Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullha and Pakistan MP Sardar Malik also interacted with the players. Sukhbir Singh Badal announced an increase in the prize money for the women title from Rs.51 lakh to Rs.1 crore from next year.

It was a proud moment for Gagandeep Singh Gaggi Kheeranwali and Eakam Hathur as they both got Preet Tractors as prize after being declared as best raider and best stopper in the 3rd world cup kabbadi.

Priyanka Devi was declared the best raider and Jatinder Kaur was declared best stopper in the women's section. Both players were awarded with a Honda motor cycle each worth Rs.55,000.

Before the commencement of the final match between India and Pakistan, the chief minister honoured Olympians Baljeet Dhillon, Varinder Singh, Sanjeev Kumar (all hockey players), Manjeet Kaur and Brigadier Labh Singh (both athletes), Dronachariya Awardee Sukhchain Cheema and Arjuna Awardee Balwinder Singh Fidda.