Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship raids off to a flying start with Kenya and Sri Lanka winning both matches

Ahmedabad, October 23: The Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship got underway with six one-sided results at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex on Friday. Kenya and Sri Lanka each won both their men’s and women’s matches, while Uganda and Scotland also made emphatic starts.

In the men’s competition, Kenya beat Singapore 48-28, led by captain James Kamweti’s 19 raid points. Stephen Adongo added 7, and Samuel Wafula chipped in with 8 points, half of them from tackles. Kenya finished with 32 raid points to Singapore’s 20 and 12 tackle points to 6, and inflicted four All-Outs without conceding one. Muhammad Aidil Mutalib was Singapore’s best with 9 raid points.

Sri Lanka were comfortable 48-21 winners over Tanzania, led by raiders Milinda Chathuranga and Viduranga, who scored 11 and 10 points respectively. Chathuranga’s 11 raid points came from 17 raids. Sri Lanka outscored Tanzania 25 raid points to 9, inflicted six All-Outs, and got five tackle points from Santhushta. Tanzania’s tackling kept them in touch, with Hafidhi Ali, captain Masudi Omary and Ibrahim Mashaka each taking four tackle points, and Juma Sultania scored 7 raid points. But 17 unsuccessful raids proved costly.

Scotland then beat Australia 59-30, with Brar the star of the show. He scored 25 points, including 23 raid points from 23 raids without a single unsuccessful raid. Captain Ryan Mcgallagly added 12 points, and Remy Friel contributed 5. Scotland dominated both departments, with 40 raid points to 25 and 8 tackle points to 1, and won the All-Out battle 8-2. For Australia, Jasmeet Grewal was the most productive raider with 8 points from just three raids, while Divjot Singh and Kuldeep Singh took 4 each.

In the women’s competition, Uganda made a flying start with a 61-12 win over Singapore. They scored 33 raid points and 16 tackle points, and inflicted 10 All-Outs without conceding any. Nakayongo Shirat, Ademun Lucy and captain Nalubega Olivia scored 8 points each, and Nayiga Mawanda added 7. Singapore, led by captain Anandarajan Sindini with 6 points, managed just 10 raid points and two tackle points, with Arthi Selvan getting 4 of those raid points.

Kenya’s women edged out Bangladesh 34-25, with Lavenda Odhiambo putting in a marathon performance. She scored 25 points from 23 raids, accounting for 25 of Kenya’s 26 raid points. Bangladesh made it hard for them in the raiding department, with Sraboni Mollick and Anzuara Ratry scoring 7 points each and Brishti Biswas adding 5. But Kenya’s 4 All-Outs to Bangladesh’s 2 and their tackle-point advantage of 2-1 made the difference.

Sri Lanka’s women completed the day’s results with a dominant 53-10 win over Scotland. They scored 22 raid points and 20 tackle points, and inflicted 10 All-Outs without conceding one. Captain Hansamali took 6 tackle points, and Madushani added 5 points. Scotland did not score a single tackle point, though Rowen Strachan’s 5 raid points kept the scoreboard ticking.