Kabaddi World Cup 2016 FINAL : India vs Iran | Preview, Live scores, match centre, and commentary

10/22/2016

Hosts India will defend the title in the Kabaddi World Cup against two-time runners up Iran in the grand finale today. It is a clash of the titans for the third consecutive time in the world cup final as India would look to score a hattrick while Iran would want to be “third-time lucky”.

Click here to open our Match Centre and receive live updates and scores of what is expected to be a thrilling game of Kabaddi.

India were expected to easily defend their Kabaddi World Cup title, but fumbled at the initial step against South Korea losing 32-34 to their Asian counterparts. Following the early shocker, the Anup Kumar-led team were able to come back strongly in the second match by defeating Australia by a huge margin of 54-20. They continued their domination in the tournament with three thumping wins against Bangladesh, Argentina and England finishing second in the Group A standings.

In the semifinal yesterday, India made short work of a hapless Thailand side with a 73-20 win. Nitin Tomar, Ajay Thakur and Pardeep Narwal all played their parts to perfection.

On the other side, Iran have shown clinical performances throughout the tournament to secure their berth in the finals. Despite losing a game to Thailand in the league stage, Iran has the fire power to punch above their weight.

Earlier, India and Iran have played twice against each other in the finals of the Kabaddi World Cup in 2004 and 2007. India have won both the games. Iran almost came close to defeat India in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, before India seized the game by 27-25.

Can India live up to the billing? We have the game coming up, very soon.