Kabaddi team confident of winning fifth gold

The Indian kabaddi team left for Busan on a high note, aiming to capture gold for a record fifth consecutive time at the XIVth Asian Games, starting on Sunday.

The team members emphatically dismissed speculation that it would be difficult for them to perform well on synthetic mats and may lose to teams more accustomed to playing on the surface.

"We are absolutely confident of securing gold for the fifth consecutive time. We will have no problems with the mats," Samsher Singh, who was also a member of the 1998 gold medal-winning team in Bangkok, said.

Samsher said the preparation for this year's Asian Games were solid.

"We will have some competition from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Nepal, but we are sure to beat them in style," he added.

Manpreet Singh, another team member, however, said the team had bee mostly practicing on mud instead of mats, but was quick to say that it would not come in the way of India's chances.

"The risk of injury is more in mud than on mats. We are not provided with adequate mats in the country. Each state should have at least one centre having the mat facilities," he pointed out.

The team has four members who were in the side that won the gold medal at the last Games in Bangkok. They are Sanjeev Kumar, Rammehar Singh, Samsher Singh and B C Ramesh.

The other members in the current team are Manpreet Singh, Sundar Singh, Neer Gulia, Jagadish Kumar, Ramesh Kumar, B C Suresh and Dinesh Kumar.

The chief coach is E Prasad Rao. J Uday Kumar is the coach and Sitaram the manager.

India won the gold medal in all previous outings since kabaddi was introduced at the Asian Games in 1986.