47th Junior National Kabaddi Championship, Day 1: Defending champions rule the roost

After a delayed start, the 47th Junior National Kabaddi Championship - Boys category witnessed some fireworks on the mat as 12 teams faced-off across 6 matches. As defending champions SAI locked horns with Bihar, a tale of dominance ensued. The result was a one-sided victory for them, with the scoreline reading 87-24. Another such tale came to the fore as Vidarbha got the better of Jammu and Kashmir, defeating them 50-40. Karnataka and Gujarat also registered comprehensive victories against Telangana and Manipur respectively by steadily increasing the points gap and ending the match on a winning note.

For Delhi and Maharashtra though, it was a matter of holding on to their nerves as they inched ahead of Chandigarh and Madhya Pradesh respectively. While the former registered a 1-point win, the latter won the match against Madhya Pradesh by 2 points.

Summary of Boys’ Category Results

Match 1: SAI vs Bihar : 87-24

Match 2: Karnataka vs Telangana : 49-33

Match 3: Chandigarh vs Delhi : 45-46

Match 4: Vidarbha vs J&K : 50-40

Match 5: Maharashtra vs Madhya Pradesh : 49-47

Match 6: Gujarat vs Manipur : 44-27

Meanwhile, in the Girls category, the inaugural match saw a similar story wherein the defending champions, Haryana, steamrolled over Jammu and Kashmir handing them a 62-point defeat in a display of sheer dominance. Last year’s runners up, SAI, also followed suit and scored a comfortable 70-23 victory over the home team, Telangana.

While Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh registered strong, convincing victories over their oppositions. Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand played out the only encounter in the category which had a winning margin of less than 20 points.

Summary of Girls’ Category Results

Match 1: Haryana vs Jammu & Kashmir : 74-12

Match 2: SAI vs Telangana : 70-23

Match 3: Chandigarh vs Pondicherry : 58-13

Match 4: Uttar Pradesh vs Uttarakhand : 50-31

Match 5: Himachal Pradesh vs Sikkim : 49-24

Match 6: Delhi vs Odisha : 42-20