India clinched the kabaddi title for the fifth straight time at the Asian Games with a comfortable 35-23 victory over Pakistan to take their gold medal tally at the Games to three on the fifth day of competition in Doha on Wednesday.
India maintained their stranglehold on the sport, which made its debut at Beijing in 1990, with a clinical display in front of a capacity crowd at the Aspire Hall.
The defending champions, who have lorded over others in the game indigenous to the subcontinent, opened up a lead of 21-14 at half-time and did not allow their rivals to bounce back into the game.
The Indians were superior in their raiding skills in which Rakesh Kumar, captain Dinesh Kumar and Pankaj Shirsat excelled to give the team their second successive win over their opponents after their victory in the league phase earlier in the tournament.
"I wanted my team to win the gold under my captaincy. We have always won the gold medal in previous Asian Games. So I wanted our team to get the gold," said captain Dinesh Kumar shortly after the triumph.
"This is the first time I have been captain and I wanted to make my country proud by winning a gold medal. All my team mates played with josh (energy) and our defence was very good," he added.
Dinesh admitted that the Indians committed a few mistakes in the first half but were quick to take remedial measures in the second session.
"There were mistakes in raiding but then we corrected it," he said.
"Our life's aim was to win the gold for our country. I want to give credit to my coach in my village and the team coach who made it possible for us," Dinesh said.
Indian coach Janardan Uday Kumar said, "We first played offence and then defence, trying to confuse them. We were expected to win and we kept our best for this match. Right now, I am very happy with our performance."
India's earlier two yellow metals had come through the efforts of woman chess ace Koneru Humpy and billiards champion Pankaj Advani.
The medal was also the third of the day for India, whose kitty swelled by the bronze medals won by the men's rowing pair of Kiran Yalamanchi and Birender Singh and pistol shooter Vijay Kumar.
The Indian women's hockey team also triumphed, beating Malaysia 4-2 in a round-robin match. After three games, India are fourth with six points. India, who led 3-1 at half-time, found the target through Rajwinder Kaur, Binita Toppo, Anjum Saba and Mamta Kharab.
There was good news from the badminton courts as well with Saina Nehwal and the men's doubles pairing of V Diju and Vidyadhar winning their opening rounds.
Saina stormed into the pre-quarter-finals of the women's singles with a 21-10, 21-6 victory over Sri Lanka's Nadeesha Dura.
The 16-year-old Hyderabad girl, who reached the final of the World Junior Championships recently, was never really tested as she closed out the first round clash in just 14 minutes.
Following her easy first round outing, Saina will now take on the challenge of Japan's Erik Hirose in the pre-quarter-finals.
In the men's doubles section, the combination of V Diju and Vidyadhar too displayed good form in their opening outing as they accounted for Wai Ho Hui and Wai Hong Wong (Hong Kong) in straight games 21-13, 21-10.
In the round of 16, Diju and Vidyadhar will take on the Korean challenge of Jung Jae Sung and Young Dae Lee.
India's chances in tennis also received a boost with Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi setting aside their personal differences to team up in the men's doubles competition.
They were given the top seeding a first round encounter against Hong Kong's Yu Hiu Tung Wong and Wing Luen Wayne for a place in the pre-quarter finals.
But there were reversals, including in men's football in which India lost 0-2 to strong Iran in their final group D league tie.
With one win, one loss and a draw to their credit, they finished with four points.
