India players celebrate their victory in the men's kabaddi gold medal match between India and Iran during the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang province on Saturday, October 7, 2023. - AFP
HANGZHOU (AFP): The men's kabaddi final between India and Iran at the Asian Games descended into chaos and was suspended for an hour on Saturday over a disputed decision, before India finally sealed the title.
India were seeking to reclaim the crown from Iran in a sport they regard as their own, and they did so in the most contentious circumstances in Hangzhou.
Kabaddi is a tag-meets-rugby contact team sport rooted in Indian mythology and said to date back 5,000 years.
The final was locked at 28-28 with just over a minute left when India went on a crucial "raid" for points, with both teams claiming they should get the decision.
That sparked a prolonged video review, then a standoff and the suspension of the final, as numerous officials checked the footage and attempted to make a ruling.
The action in what was an eagerly anticipated showdown was put on hold as both teams at different points appeared to refuse to play and argued their case.
Order was eventually restored with the score at 31-29 in India's favour.
Iran reluctantly carried on but they were deflated and quickly slumped to a 33-29 defeat, sparking wild Indian celebrations.
The two teams shook hands at the end.
But the post-final press conference was cancelled and Iran's coach Gholamreza Mazandarani said of the controversy: "This is very bad, very bad for kabaddi."
He accused the officials of making "some mistakes, some bad decisions", but also pointed the finger at India.
"All (their) team, all coaches and all managers, all (put) pressure on the referees and they changed (their decision)," he fumed.
India had won every men's gold since kabaddi became an Asian Games sport in 1990 until Iran took the title at the 2018 Asiad in Jakarta.
They got their revenge on Saturday but India's coach Edachery Bhaskaran agreed the scenes had been bad for the image of kabaddi.
Like his counterpart, he accused the other side of trying to influence the decision at the heart of the dispute.
"As per (the) rule, the decision is correct," he said.
"But they want to manipulate that."
Kabaddi requires yoga-like breath control as two seven-player teams send a raider into enemy territory to tag an opponent and return to safety -- all while chanting "kabaddi, kabaddi" to prove they're not using more than one puff.
Earlier on Saturday, India also defeated Taiwan 26-25 for the women's gold. - AFP
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