Indian women's kabaddi team wins gold at Asian Games, clinches 100th medal for India

The Indian women's kabaddi team narrowly avoided defeat when it defeated Chinese Taipei 26-25 in the game's thrilling finale here on Saturday, earning the nation its 100th medal from the Hangzhou Asian Games.

In women's kabaddi, which was introduced at the 2010 Asian Games, India won its third gold medal. India won gold in the 2010 and 2014 competitions, but after falling to Iran in the championship match, India had to settle for silver.

This time, an exciting summit battle pitted the Indians against the newly-emerging kabaddi nation of Chinese Taipei.

When the two teams were knotted 34-34 in the group league game, they both understood that the final would be challenging.

A fantastic raid by Pooja, one of the stars of the dramatic final that also saw the team's coach receive a caution with a green card, gave India a commanding 14-9 lead at the break.

The advantage changed hands several times over the course of the next 15 minutes in a tense exhibition of great tennis from both teams.

Chinese Taipei quickly cut India's lead to 16-14 once the game resumed. The score was 19-17 in favor of India with less than five minutes left when Chinese Taipei won a vital video referral.

Chinese Taipei started to rise from there. When the Chinese Taipei player conducted the raid, there were only two Indian players there. As she touched the backline, one Indian player was eliminated, and the other was unable to grab the opposing raider.

Four points were scored by Chinese Taipei, two from the raid and two from sending India All Out, putting them ahead, 21-19.

Pooja then scored one point during her raid, cutting the deficit to 20-21. The next Chinese Taipei raider was unable to score any points, hence India had the responsibility of settling the score.

At this time, captain Ritu Negi made a brilliant choice in stopping Pushpa from conducting a raid. Instead, she sent Pooja, who excelled and helped India score two points to take a 22-21 lead.

The game intensified as the two teams remained tied at 22-22, 23-23, and finally 24-24 since it wasn't finished yet.

With 53 seconds remaining, India's raider Pushpa earned a point at that time. Chinese Taipei requested a review, but it was denied, giving India the victory and putting an end to the contest.

Chinese Taipei gained a point with a raider, bringing the final score down to 25–26. The final few seconds were played out by the Indians before they celebrated by leaping into each other's arms.

"After losing the gold at the 2018 Asian Games, we really worked hard. We had to wait five years, but our efforts paid off," said captain Ritu Negi, who was also a member of the 2018 Asian Games silver-winning team.

In the Indonesian championship, Iran had defeated India.

"Our players were a bit nervous towards the end but they kept themselves under control and ultimately pulled off the win," Edachery Bhaskaran, our coach, remarked.

Chinese Taipei are now a highly powerful team. They have already trained in India and will keep becoming better. We must also put in more effort to cling onto our position.