36th National Games : Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh to Play Kabaddi Final

36th National Games : After two scintillating matches in the semi-finals of the 36th National Games at the Transtadia in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, the women’s Kabaddi event will see an in-form Maharashtra square-up against Himachal Pradesh in the final on Saturday. 

Both sides had a varied journey in the semi-final round with Maharashtra winning at a canter while Himachal Pradesh had more than a few tense moments. 

In the first semi-final of the day, it was a strong performance from Maharashtra that drove them on to a thumping 45-25 win against Tamil Nadu. The first match saw the Maharashtra side dominate their opponents through the majority of the game. And even though Tamil Nadu raised hopes of a comeback in the second half, Maharashtra were too far out for them. 

At the end of the first half, Maharashtra led 27-8, before TN made it 18-17 in the second half to bring some respectability to the scoreline and Maharashtra finished at 45-25. 

The second semi-final was a far closer contest between Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, with the former coming away winners by a narrow 28-27 scoreline. Neither team were able to get a substantial lead at any point in time during the game, with Himachal Pradesh edging out their opponents in the final seconds with a well-timed raid. 

Himachal ended a tightly contested first half with the score at 17-13, ahead by four points, after which Haryana began to chip away at the advantage. However, it was too tall a mountain for them, as Himachal lost the second half 11-14, but had just about enough in the bank to sneak through to the summit clash.