Kabaddi World Cup: India thrash Thailand in semis, to face Iran in final

Ahmedabad: India exposed the wide gulf in expertise between themselves and surprise semifinalists Thailand as they romped to a facile 73-20 rout in the Kabaddi World Cup here. Thailand players were made to look like a bunch of amateurs by the ease with which India subjugated them and, it looked as though, there would have been no difference in the result had India fielded only one player instead of the stipulated seven.

The fact that Thailand were all out for a total of six times indicates how dominant the home team were. A special word of praise or two for Rahul Chaudhari and Nitin Tomar, wouldn't be out of place as they didn't put a foot wrong. This victory augurs well for the two-time defending champions ahead of their final against Iran, who were made to sweat against Korea, in the final on Saturday. India, though, would do well not to get carried away by this mammoth win, as Iran are in a different league.

Earlier, Iran overcame the stiff challenge of Korea Republic to beat them 28-22. Korea, who were the only unbeaten team in the league phase, would rue that their first loss came at the knock-out stage.