Ahmedabad: India's two kabaddi squads kept their unbeaten run going at the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship on Sunday, the women beating Uganda 41-18 and the men getting past Malaysia 37-23 at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Naranpura.
Captain Nidhi Sharma led the women with nine points, Sakshi added eight and Anu seven. India racked up 25 raid points, 11 tackle points and four all-out points. Ritu took six tackle points in defence and Jyoti four.
Uganda's Namataka Beatrice top-scored for her side with seven points, with Nabwegamo Catherine adding two tackle points. Uganda finished with 13 raid points and five tackle points.
In the men's match, Neeraj Narwal was the standout with 13 points, including four bonus points. Bharat contributed six raid points, Aditya Shinde five and Naveen Kumar three. India led 27-11 at the break, and although Malaysia took the second half 12-10, the deficit was always going to be too steep.
Both of India's all-outs came in the opening half and set the tone. Deepak S led the defence with two tackle points. For Malaysia, Isaac Alton and Leong Suresh Kim Seng made six raid points each.
It was India's third straight win in each draw. On October 23 the women thrashed Malaysia 73-13 and the men beat England 46-26. On October 24 the men beat Uganda 44-30 and the women Singapore 32-16.
Monday brings Nigeria for both teams — the women at 6.45 pm and the men at 8.30 pm. Sri Lanka currently tops the men's Group A on a better points difference.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Canada's men became the first team in the tournament to score more than 70 points in a match, thumping Australia 74-28, with Anmol Thakur making 18 points and Manpreet Singh 15. Sri Lanka edged Uganda 36-34 to stay unbeaten, and England won their first match, beating Nigeria 68-18 with Ahrujan Ragunathan and Alvin Jaison making 11 points each.
In the women's draw, Sri Lanka beat England 65-16 and Nigeria claimed their first win of the tournament, 43-20 over Singapore.
The championship runs from October 23 to 31, with the semi-finals on October 30 and the final on October 31.
Surjeet Singh captains the Indian men's side and Nidhi Sharma the women's.