Dubai kabaddi semis: Iran demolish Pakistan 40-21

KARACHI: Iran thrashed Pakistan comprehensively by 40-21 in the first semifinal of the Kabaddi Masters Dubai 2018 at the Al Wasl Sports Complex in Dubai on Friday.

Going into the pre-final as Group B winners Iran showed their class, dominating the proceedings against the young-blooded Pakistan right from the start. Iran, who have been showing some solid results in international circuit over the years, made Pakistan run for their money in every department to seal a superb win to qualify for the six-nation event final.

The Iranians, led by Nabibakhsh’s agile raiding and Mohammad Maghsoudlou’s smart raiding completely decimated a listess Pakistan outfit, which seemed out of sorts in the absence of regular skipper Nasir Ali, who did not feature in the game owing to an injury.

Mohammad Malak enjoyed an outstanding game from the left corner and made matters worse for the Pakistan raiders, who could not find their feet right through the contest highlighted by lead raider Muhammad Nadeem’s inability to get his tally going.

It has been a disappointing event so far for Pakistan as the nation also lost their both group matches against India. However Pakistan could make it to the semi-finals because of their two wins over little known Kenyans.The second semi-final between hot favourites India and South Korea was in progress till filing of the report.

This is an Asian style event and is a solid source for preparations for the Asian Games slated to be held in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2.