India emerged as champion at the Junior Kabaddi World Championships 2023. The Indian boys defeated hosts Iran 41-32 in the final played at Urmia, Iran on Saturday.
The Indian team, led by Ankush Rathee trailed 18-19 at half-time. But they made a brilliant comeback in the second half to register a victory by a margin of 8 points.
India kicked off their campaign with a 67-34 win over Thailand in their first Group C match. They outclassed Bangladesh 74-23 in their 2nd group match. In the quarterfinals, the Indians beat Taiwan 54-36 before thrashing Pakistan in the semifinal 75-29.
This was also the debut for India at the Junior Kabaddi World Championships as they had skipped the inaugural tournament held in 2019. Iran had won the first edition defeating Kenya in the final.
The Indian team coached by Anup Kumar consisted of the following players:
Ankush Rathee – Left Corner
Narender Kandola – Left Raider
Jai Bhagwan – Right Raider
Manjeet Sharma – Right Raider
Sagar Kumar – All Rounder
Ashish Malik – Left Corner
Sachin – Right Cover
Rohit Kumar – left Cover
Manu Deshwal – Left Raider
Abhijit Malik – Right Raider
Vijyant Jaglan – Right Cover
Yogesh Dahiya – Right Corner
Prateek Dahiya – Right Raider
Vinay Redhu – Left Raider
Ashish – Right Corner
