Bangladesh ensure maiden Women‍‍`s Kabaddi World Cup medal

Bangladesh beat Thailand by 40-31 points in their final pool match on Saturday morning to move into the semifinals and ensure a maiden medal in the Women‍‍`s Kabaddi World Cup.

From the outset of the tournament, Bangladeshi players and officials had expressed their hopes of winning a medal. After a fiercely contested win over Thailand sealed both a semi-final berth and a podium finish, there was jubilation in the red-and-green camp. The players and coaching staff waved the national flag in response to the applause from spectators in the gallery of the Shaheed Suhrawardy Indoor Stadium.

Thailand won the toss and opted to raid first. Thanyalak Benrith opened the scoring with a bonus point. In the second raid, Sraboni Mallik earned Bangladesh‍‍`s first point – also a bonus. On her next raid, Sraboni put one Thai player out. Thailand, who had been leading from the beginning, were overtaken midway through the first half when Meybi Chakma gave Bangladesh the lead for the first time.

The match continued at a neck-and-neck pace – Rekha Akhtari conceded a point while attempting a tackle, and Brishti Biswas responded by earning one back in the next raid. In the ninth minute, Bangladeshi raider Sraboni left the mat due to injury. With the scores level at 11-11, Brishti took out two players in a single raid to regain the lead for Bangladesh. The hosts went into the break leading 14-12.

Shortly after the restart, Bangladesh forced an all-out on their opponents to move 18-13 ahead. Their dominance grew with time. Both in raiding and tackling, the red and greens displayed remarkable prowess. A second all-out inflicted on Thailand put Bangladesh 31-18 in front. Thailand did fight back desperately in the dying stages, but only managed to reduce the margin of defeat. With a 40-31 victory, Bangladesh secured their first-ever medal at a Women‍‍`s Kabaddi World Cup.

Bangladesh, Pool A runners-up, will play in the second semifinal against Pool B champions Chinese Taipei on Sunday while India and Iran, the finalists of the last edition, will square off in the first semifinal on the same day.