48 th HARYANA STATE JUNIOR KABADDI CHAMPIONSHIP (Boys Category) Kicks off , Heavyweight teams wins and moves to the next round

The State of Kabaddi lovers was back in action with one of the most awaited tournaments of the current calendar year. The Day of 1 Haryana State Junior Kabaddi Championship took place at Kalinga Village Bhiwani Haryana. The championship followed a knockout format. The youngsters were keen to show their A-game. Irrespective of whether their teams are crowned champions or not, they would be looking to squeeze in the state's team final squad for the National Junior Championship to be held later. 

The host was looking to make the home advantage count and was the team to look out for in the tournament. The recent Khelo Champions in the boy's category Sonipat were looking to bag another title. Some other strong teams were also playing their games on day 1 of the State Junior Kabaddi Championship. Hisar, Kurukshetra, Jhajjar, Panipat, etc all were looking to get off the mark. 

BOYS CATEGORY

GAME 1 - Panchkula  19 - 44 Hisar

The opening fixture saw Big Guns Hisar take on another formidable opponent in the shape of Panchkula. The match was supposed to be a tight affair, but the hype it carried soon fizzled out as Hisar was dominant from the get-go. The Boys from Hisar rattled their opponents so bad that they were just unable to stage any sort of comeback. With Hisar winning it by a convincing margin of 25 points.

GAME 2 - Jind 33 - Sirsa 14

The 2nd game was the battle of Minnows. This game was important for both teams as it would give them some confidence against much more experienced teams. The game started well, the first half saw both teams going our hard and being neck to neck. But Sirsa was running on empty when the second half came and could not come with the fitness level of Jind as they rat out winners and through to the next round.

GAME 3 - Fatehabad 6 - 32 Kurukshetra 
The 3 rd game was supposed to be an easy game for Kurukshetra. And they obliged that in style by hammering Fatehabad aside. The Kurukshetra boys were all over them and won by a comfortable margin of 26 points. The game saw Fatehabad being the lowest scoring side of the da with just 6 points and going back home.

GAME 4  - Ambala 15 - 34 Gurugram 

The 4th game was a game that could swing on either side. The team that would have adjusted to the humid conditions would take the game. And Gurugram was the one that did as they were the ones to settle down first and take the lead in the first half. Ambala tried but Gurugram was already pacing their game well in 2nd half and won with ease in the end. 

GAME 5 - Faridabad 17 - 34 Panipat

The 5th game saw the powerhouse Panipat taking on the hardworking Faridabad side. Panipat is a team that always starts well in games like these. They had the history and experience of such competitions on their side. Faridabad started with some initial nerves and so did Panipat. Both teams analyzed each other and played the first half cautiously. But Panipat was done analyzing their opponents in the 2nd half. Their 2nd half storm saw them wipe off Faridabad by a margin of 17 points and move into the next round.

GAME 6 Jhajjar  42 - 14 Mahendargarh

The 6th game was one-sided. Mahendargarh Boys were no match for the team from Jhajjar, they were all over. From the starting game's whistle to the end endings game whistle. It never looked like Jhajjar was letting it lose and closed out the match by 28 points win.

GAME 7 - Bhiwani 52 - 8 Rewari

The 7th game finally saw the host out on the mat. they took on the team from Rewari. With Bhiwani being host, they wanted to make their intentions clear to everyone that they are here to win. And they did by thrashing Rewari aside. They scored the highest point among the 18 teams that played on game day 1 and won by the biggest margin of 44 points.

GAME 8 - Karnal 29 - 27 Kathal

The 8 the game was the most evenly contested game of the day. Both teams were neck to neck throughout the match. They were going toe to toe in every department against each other. The game went right down to the wire. Karnal was eventually able to overcome their counterparts in the last few mins. And won the game by 2 points and proceeded to the next round.

GAME 9 - Sonipat 33 - 18 Yamunanagar

The last game of the day saw the Khelo champions take on the boys from Yamunanagar. Sonipat were favorites to win the tournament before even coming out here, and they showed why. They put out a professional performance, both their raiders and defenders did their job to perfection. They won the game comfortably and moved further to stay on their path to be the champions. 

With some more games lined up for day 2, it would be interesting to see who comes on top in the end.