Iran’s women’s kabaddi team won their first-ever gold in the event at the Asian Games after beating two-time defending champions India in the final.
India’s Shailja Jain wanted to prove that she is the best kabaddi coach in the world and she has done that with the Iran women’s team, albeit at the expense of her own country, India.
Jain, who hails from Nashik, joined the Iranian team 18 months ago and since then, she has played a crucial role in their success. Iran on Friday, 24 August, ended India’s dominance at the Asian Games kabaddi by winning the women’s title with a close 27-24 win in the final.
“When I visited Iran the first time after taking up the job, I said this is my mission, to prove I’m the best coach. And now we have the result. Today our defence after the first five minutes was very tight, which was crucial to our win. And three of our raiders were excellent,”
“Communication was not easy, so I learnt Parsi. Before the match I told the girls ‘don’t send me back to India without the gold medal’. Some of them came back and told me ‘madam, we’ve given you what you wanted’. This final match was very special for me and the team. After a long time, Iran won a gold. I’m thankful to the federation for showing faith in me.”
