Ahmedabad, Oct 28 Kenya and Bangladesh recorded commanding victories over Canada and Australia, respectively, on the sixth day of the Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship here on Wednesday.
While Kenya defeated Canada 49-20, Bangladesh breezed past Australia 69-30 to keep their semifinal hopes alive.
Led by Viduranga (11 points) and Lakshita (nine points), Sri Lankan men scored a facile 50-22 win over England to book their place in the semi-final.
Sri Lanka play India on Thursday to decide Group A topper.
The Kenyan men’s all-round game proved too much for Canada. Contributions from eleven players were central to their win, with Stephen Adongo scoring six points and Rodgers Atieno and Samuel Wafula chipping in with five points each. They outraided Canada 24-13 and won eight more tackle points besides inflicting four all-outs on their opponents.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh relied on Dipayon Golder’s 21 points and Liton Ali’s 14 points to outclass Australia by 39 points.
Ibrahim Khaleel and Amol Roy scored seven points each as Bangladesh outraided Australia 41-30. Bangladesh scored 15 tackle points to Australia’s one. Twelve all-outs were inflicted on Australia, with three of them coming in the first 15 minutes.
Malaysia and Uganda also secured victories on the day, but in contrasting manner. While Malaysia eased past Nigeria 78-13 in a Group B clash, Uganda pipped Tanzania (35-28) by seven points in a thrilling contest.
Earlier, Ugandan women registered a comprehensive 65-22 victory over Nigeria to march into the semifinals. Their victory sets up a semifinal showdown against fellow African counterparts and Group B toppers Kenya, while hosts India will lock horns with South Asian neighbours Sri Lanka in the other semifinal.
Uganda, who needed a victory to consolidate the second spot in the group, were neck-to-neck with Nigeria in the initial phase of the match.
Uganda were leading 16-9 when the Nigerian coach called a timeout. After the timeout, Uganda asserted themselves and led 35-12 at half time.
Nalwoga Nahia and Nalubega Olivia were pivotal to Uganda’s win with 22 and 11 points respectively.
In the day’s first match, Bangladesh women, riding on Sraboni Mollick’s 27 points and Bristhi Biswas’s 12 points, hammered England 79-13 in a lop-sided clash.
Bangladesh outscored England 48-12 in raid points and 16-2 in tackle points in addition to inflicting 12 all outs on their opponents.
Bangladesh ended the group assignments with two victories and two losses. The defeats to Kenya (by nine points) and Sri Lanka (by 11 points) put paid to their hopes of reaching the last four.
(PTI News)
