Ahmedabad: India won the inaugural Commonwealth women's Kabaddi Championship with a 35-15 victory over Uganda in the final here on Saturday, completing an unbeaten campaign.
Sakshi top-scored for India with nine raid points from 10 raids, including two bonus points. Seven of those came in the first half, when she was successful in all six of her raids.
Anu added six raid points and captain Nidhi Sharma five, including three bonus points. Ritu and Suman anchored the defence with four tackle points each. India scored 20 raid points and 10 tackle points, while also inflicting two All-Outs.
Nakayongo Shirat led Uganda's attack, attempting 24 of their 35 raids and scoring 11 of the team's 15 points, including three bonus points. Uganda's other raiders managed three points between them, while semi-final standout Nalwoga Nahia was restricted to one.
Zalwango Jemima's second-half tackle was the only time Uganda managed to stop an Indian raider throughout the match. Uganda scored 14 raid points and one tackle point.
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India led 7-3 with 10 minutes of the first half remaining before pulling clear. They outscored Uganda 15-4 from there, including an All-Out, to lead 22-7 at half-time. India did not lose a single raid in the first half, as Uganda failed with all nine of their tackle attempts, while India's defenders made six successful tackles.
Uganda edged India 7-6 on raid points after the break, but India's second All-Out, with less than 10 minutes to play, put the result beyond doubt. During the match, India tackled Uganda's raiders 10 times and converted three of their four do-or-die raids.
"I'm feeling great that I could score 9 raid points and help the team win," said Sakshi, who finished the championship with 52 points from six matches.
"The atmosphere in the team is euphoric after winning the gold medal and everyone is very happy. This event was very important for Kabaddi as such international tournaments will help the growth of the sport and our young players will benefit a lot from this experience. I could see a lot of improvement in other teams compared to last year."
