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Korean kabaddi teams end Games empty-handed and out of breath

Published: 04 Oct. 2023, 19:34

Korea's Jo Hyun-ah, wearing white, competes during a women's Group A game against India at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Tuesday. [XINHUA]

Both the Korean men’s and women’s kabaddi teams are officially out of the tournament at the Hangzhou Asian Games after suffering losses in their final matches of the group stage on Wednesday.

The men’s team lost to undefeated Iran 64-23 and hours later, the women’s team followed with a 35-24 loss to Chinese Taipei.

Korean kabaddi's semifinal hopes diminish with crushing defeats

Both the men’s and women’s team were effectively out of the tournament by Tuesday as they entered their third and final matches of the group stage at the Xiaoshan Guali Sports Centre in Hangzhou, China.

It’s a disappointing finish for the Korean men’s team, in particular. The Korean men’s team started to appear as an unexpected contender on the kabaddi court in 2014, taking their first Asiad medal with bronze at the Incheon Asian Games in 2014 and winning silver in the 2018 tournament. Korea has yet to medal in women’s kabaddi, finishing fifth in 2010, 2014 and 2018.

Kabaddi is a traditional contact sport originating from India. The aim of the game is for a “raider” to get to the opposing side of the court and tag out as many defenders as possible and then return to his side. However, the raider has to do so without getting tackled and while constantly repeating “kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi” so as not to draw a single breath.

On a 12.5-meter by 6.25-meter (41-foot by 20-foot) court, points are scored for each player tagged by the raider while the opposing team can earn points by stopping the raider.

Both the men’s and the women’s teams lost their opening games on Monday with the men’s team narrowly losing to Malaysia, 40-38, and the women’s team to Thailand, 43-23.

The men’s team lost again to Pakistan, 56-21, in their second Group B game and the women’s team to India, 56-23, on Tuesday.

With the Wednesday losses, Korea ends its kabaddi schedule at this year’s Asiad with zero wins.

BY MARY YANG AND JIM BULLEY [[email protected]]