Bangladesh retain kabaddi title

Bangladesh retained the Bangabandhu Cup International Kabaddi title after handing a dramatic 34-31 defeat to Kenya in an exciting final at the Shaheed Noor Hossain National Volleyball Stadium yesterday.

With Bangladesh leading 32-31 in the dying minutes, it appeared that the hosts surrendered their lead when a Kenyan player claimed two points from his raid, leaving the matter to the foreign referees.

However, the referees gave a revised decision and awarded Bangladesh two points to send the hosts players and fans into raptures, adjudging that the Kenyan raider had crossed the touch-line in the Bangladesh half during his attempted raid.

Kenya, also runners-up in the last edition, were nearly unstoppable at the start and took a 10-12 before Bangladesh hit back strongly and swung proceedings their way to earn a 15-12 lead.

The hosts went into the lemon break with a 17-14 lead and, after resumption, looked much better in terms of attacking and defending.

At one point, Bangladesh took a 29-21 lead courtesy of good raids from Tuhin Tarafeder, Arduzzaman and Rabiul Islam.

Just when it began to seem that Bangladesh were going to easily retain the title, Kenya showed their character and closed the gap by securing points one after another to make it 31-32 and set up a nervy finale. However, the last drama saw Bangladesh defend their title, repeating the result from the final of the last edition.