India thump Chinese Taipei to qualify for semis of Junior World Kabaddi Championship 2023

The Men in Blue will face Pakistan on Friday.

India progressed to the semifinals of the 2nd Junior World Kabaddi Championship held in Urmia, Iran. After playing two back-to-back group matches and topping the group, India defeated Asian compatriots Chinese Taipei 54-36. Nepal and Iraq played the match of the tournament so far with the former beating the latter by a mere point. Iran on the other hand defeated Bangladesh comfortably by 39 points and progressed to the second successive semifinals. Last edition finalist Kenya exited the competition after losing to Pakistan in the quarterfinals.

Srinivas Reddy former PKL coach and the current head coach of Bangladesh guided the side to a creditable quarterfinal finish.  

India will next face arch-rival Pakistan on Friday in the semifinal of the Junior World Kabaddi Championship 2023. The Indian team will have a chance to qualify for the finals in their very first appearance in the competition.

Semifinals schedule

March 3, Friday

Semi-final 1: Iran vs Nepal

Semi-final 2: India vs Pakistan

Indian Squad:

Narender Kandola, Jai Bhagwan, Manjeet Sharma, Manu Deshwal, Abhijit Malik, Ankush Rathee, Ashish Malik, Sachin, Rohit Kumar, Vijyanth Jaglan, Yogesh Dahiya, and Sagar Kumar

Quarterfinals Results

Iran 56-17 Bangladesh

Nepal 64-63 Iraq

India 54-36 Chinese Taipei

Pakistan 56-24 Kenya

Final schedule

March 4, Saturday

Final: Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2