Dhudike: Australia defeated Spain by 43-34 in the opening match of Fifth Kabaddi World Cup 2014 held in the Multipurpose Stadium, here today.
Australian team maintained the lead since beginning and by half time their score was 20-18. For Australia, raiders Inderjit scored 9, Navpreet scored 10 and Taranpreet scored 10 points and stoppers Avtar Singh and Harwinder Singh scored two points each. Spanish Raiders Juan Espino scored 12 points, Santiago scored 7 and Samuel scored 8 points while stopper Christian scored two points.
In the second match of the day, Indian Women team thrashed US by a big margin of 56-15. By Half time, the Indian team was leading by 27-06. Indian Raiders Priyanka, Sukhwinder Kaur, Ram Bateri and Sukhjinder Kaur scored seven points each while stoppers Anu Rani, Sarabjit and Jasvir scored 5, 4 and 3 points respectively. For US team, Raiders Kate and Guramrit Kaur Khalsa scored four points each.
While addressing the gathering, Tota Singh, Agriculture Minister, Punjab, who was the chief guest on the occasion said that it is due to the efforts of SAD-BJP government that Kabaddi sport is making its presence felt on international scene. He also thanked Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal for bringing this tiny hamlet of Dhudike on international sports scene. He said that by organising matches here, the SAD-BJP government has also paid tribute to great freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai, whose birthplace is Dhudike. Dhudike has produced several eminent writers such as Jaswant Singh Kanwal, Sarwan Singh, besides several others.(pti)