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A total of six nations, India, Iran, South Korea, Pakistan, Kenya, and Argentina will participate in Kabaddi Masters. The tournament will take place from the 22nd of June to 30th June in Dubai. The Kabaddi Masters will help the Indian team to be more prepared for the upcoming Asian Games, Jakarta.
India will be going up against strong contenders for the title, with Kabaddi maestros Iran, Republic of Korea and Pakistan. On paper, India has strongest attacking as well as the defensive side. As there is no Fazel, Abozar, and Meraj in the squads of Iran team. As expected Iranian federation will play a safe move and give proper rest to their main players for Asian Games 2018. It's a kind of shocking news for everyone that the most expensive defender of Pro Kabaddi League season 6 will not play in the Kabaddi Masters. This championship can be tough for the newcomer, Kenya, which will face India and Pakistan in his group match. India, Pakistan, Republic of Korea and Iran will go up against the formidable newcomers Argentina and Kenya in a Kabaddi battle that is sure to see the emergence of new legends in the sport!
The Kabaddi Masters Dubai will be telecasted on Star Sports 1, 2, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 2 HD, Hot Star, Star Sports Tamil from June 22 onwards.
1.INDIA
India has the strongest side among all the other teams. The only team with full of Pro Kabaddi stars. They have most expensive and experienced players like Mony Goyat, Rahul Choudhary, Deepak Hooda and Manjeet Chhillar. All eyes will be on Monu Goyat. He was bought for Rs 1.51 crore by Haryana Steelers at the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) auction last month. India can use his bench strength so that each player will get a chance to show their ability. It would be that India team play with the different team in different halves. In top raiders like Rahul Chaudhari, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Pardeep Narwal, Monu Goyat, India have an ominous attack line with the defender duo of Surender Nada, Mohit Chhillar and in cover, we have the perfect combination of Manjeet Chhillar and Surjeet Narwal lending a perfect balance. A perfect team for a perfect tournament. But this time we will miss Nitin Tomar, the most expensive player of season 5, in the Kabaddi Masters.
The team is as follow:
All Rounder: Manjeet Chhillar, Sandeep Narwal, Deepak Niwas Hooda
Defenders: Girish Maruti Ernak, Surender Nada, Mohit Chhillar, Raju Lal Choudhary, Surjeet Narwal (PO)
Raiders: Pardeep Narwal, Rahul Chaudhari, Ajay Thakur, Rishank Devadiga, Monu Goyat, Rohit Kumar.
Stand By: Maninder Singh, Sachin Tanwar
IRAN
Iran is a major force to reckon with in the world of professional kabaddi. The nation has a diverse and relatively long history in the sport and is one of few nations to have a professional league set-up dedicated to it. But this time they will miss the strong presence of Meraj, Abozar and Fazel Atrachal.
Iran team has few new faces. They are trying an experiment with their bench strength. Iran is one of India’s major competitors along with Pakistan in the Kabaddi Masters Dubai. They have given rest to Fazel, Meraj, and Abozar Mighani and give chance to new talent to test their skills. It will be interesting to see Iran team playing without their strong defense. The duo Fazel and Abozar are most expensive Iranian player in Pro Kabaddi League. The duo has great compatibility with each other. The duo played for the same team in Pro Kabaddi League season 5 and this things really worked well for Gujarat. Although Iran has talented players, this time they will play without their main players. They might suffer without their strong point, defense. Iran will play their first match Korea on June 22. It will be an interesting match as Iran will play with their new faces. Overall the team is balanced but might suffer because of lack of experienced players. The team is as follow
Defender: Hadi Tajik, Mohammad Ghorbani, Emad Sedaghatnia.
All-Rounder: Saeid Ghaffari, Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh,
Raider: Mohammad Esmaeil Maghsoudlou Mahalli, Mohammad Taghi Paein Mahali, Mohammad Kazem Naseri, Mohammadreza Shadloui Chianeh
Some more players: Mohammad Amin Nosrati, Amirhossein Mohammad Maleki, Mohammad Malak, , Hamid Mirzaei Nader, Afshin Jafari
PAKISTAN
It is expected that more crowd will turn up for witnessing India-Pak matches. This will create a sort of pressure on both sides. Pakistan’s kabaddi team captain Nasir Ali said that “Yes, India is tough but we can beat them. We will try to win both group matches against them to finish as group winners,”. Most of their experienced players have been playing against India for the last 10 to 15 years.
"A tournament of this stature does well to bring nations together," Muhammad Sarwar Secretary General Pakistan Kabaddi Federation said.
They have a balanced side. They have the strong defense. In their attack, some fine youngsters have been brought in from the Super Kabaddi League (SKL) which has added to its strength. Pakistan team beat Iran in the semi-final of Asian Championship 2017. Both teams played extremely well in the semifinal. But in final India beat Pakistan by 36-22. Pakistan will face India in their first match, it might be a heated match. Pakistan defense is well balanced. It will be interesting to see Indian Raiders against Pakistan defenders. The team is as follow:
Team- Nasir Ali (C), Wasim Sajjad, Qaisir Abbas, Kashif Razzaq, Waqar Ali, Mudassar Ali, Muhammad Nadeem, Sajjad Shaukat, Abid Hussain, Akhlaq Hussain, Muhammad Nisar, Muzammal Hussain, Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Safian.
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
The Koreans are a rising force in the world of kabaddi and have steadily, over the years produced technically sound players that have led to a strong team traveling to Dubai for the 2018 Kabaddi Masters. They too comprise of stars in their line-up such as Jang Kun Lee, Tae Deok Eom and Seong Ryeol Kim to name a few. This has been made possible due to the country's diligent efforts at the grassroots level to promote the sport, beginning at school. The Republic of Korea could be the surprise package and will definitely have fans to back them from the subcontinent.
India suffered a shock defeat in the inaugural match of Kabaddi World Cup as they were upstaged 32-34 by South Korea. The Republic of Korea had beaten India in the opening match of the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup, fuelling India’s bid for retribution this time. That was more than just a win for an underdog; Korea's win was the greatest upset the sport has ever witnessed. Jang Kung Lee will lead his team and will try to be on the top of the group match. This team has many experienced players. This team can be a surprise package for everyone. Especially for Iran as both are sharing same Group B. This team is well balanced with star players of Pro Kabaddi League. The Team is as follow:
All-Rounders: Eom Tae Deok, Kim Seong Ryeol, Kim Gyung Tae
Defenders: Lee Jae Min, Kim Dong Gyu, Ko Young Chang, Park Chan Sik,
Raiders: Jang Kung (C), Lee Dong Geon, Hong Dong Ju, Jo Jae Pil, Park Hyun Il
Kenya
Kenya is the only country to represent the continent of Africa at the Kabaddi Masters Dubai. They more than make up for with sheer hard work and the will to learn and perform. Blessed with a natural gift for sports and athletics, the team can credit themselves and their coach for helping them in preparing for the big event. Having faced and overcome innumerable hurdles to get to the competition, the stage is now set for Kenya to leave their mark at the highest level.
The newcomer Kenya is in Group A with India and Pakistan. They will face their first match in Kabaddi Masters Dubai with the world champion India.
"I already see a place for kabaddi in the African Games in the near future," Laventer Oguta, Kenya Kabaddi Federation president who doubles up as the coach, said.
Kenya team extremely well in Kabaddi World Cup 2016, they thrash the USA by huge margin 74-19 and beats Japan by 48-27. Iran edges a close match against them and won by just 5 point difference. The team is as follow:
All Rounders: Ogak Odhiambo, Elphas Otieno, Chrispine Otieno
Defenders: Obilo James, Kevin Wire James Kamweti
Raiders: David Mosambayi (C), Esau Otieno, Patrick NzauIzaac Njoroge, Obiero Victor
Some more players: Nicholas Mutua, Erick Ocheing Oduor, Embuga George.
ARGENTINA
The South American nation in the last few years has seen a rise in the game with many growing a liking for the sport. There are around five federated clubs in Argentina comprising of 150 male and female players. The players are known to be skillful on the mat, with quick foot movements and overall play of strength. Only emerging in 1999, kabaddi is now an alternative sport of Argentina and the team will certainly be hoping to produce their best on the global stage at Kabaddi Masters Dubai 2018.
All eyes would be on football nation Argentina who are new to the sport and their president Ricardo Acuna said: "The introduction of kabaddi to Argentina has redefined sports participation. This will surely be a moment of reckoning for Argentina's kabaddi talent.
Argentina is in Group B with Iran and Korea. They will play their first match on June 23 against Iran. Their team is pack with either raiders or defenders, they have only two all-rounders in their team. In Kabaddi World Cup 2016, Argentina lost all matches by huge margin. India beat them by 74-20. They need to show what they have learnt from the KWC 2016, its really difficult for them to survive in their Group B with Iran and Korea team. The team is as follow:
All Rounder: Franco Castro, Ivan Molina,
Defenders: Jorge Barraza, Rafael Acevedo, Roman Cesaro, Matias Martinez, Sebastian Canencia, Javier Camera
Raiders: Sebastian Desocio, Federico Gramajo, Nahuel Lopez, Nahuel Villamayor, Mariano Pascual, Gabriel Sacchi.
