Heavyweights India take on Iran in the final of the inaugural edition of Dubai Kabaddi Masters at the Al Wasl Sports Club on Saturday, June 30.
When does the kabaddi final start and how to watch it live
The final match between India and Iran will start at 6:30 pm local time, 8 pm IST and 3:30 pm BST.
Star Sports 1, Star Sports Hindi and Star Sports Tamil will provide live television coverage of the match in India. The live stream will be available on Hotstar and Jio TV.
Can India win the maiden Kabaddi Masters title?
World champions India faced a tricky test against South Korea in the semi-final but managed to scrape through despite a shaky start.
Jang Kun Lee stunned India with some effective raids in the opening minutes as Srinivas Reddy's men were trailing 7-3 at the end of the first seven minutes. However, riding on captain Ajay Thakur's brilliance, the global powerhouse of kabaddi outclassed South Korea 36-20.
India will be hoping to clinch glory on Saturday in Dubai as a title win in the lead up to Asian Games will come as a big boost. Coach Reddy will once again bank of his in-form skipper Thakur to get the job done against Iran.
While the seniors have lived up to their reputations, the performances of youngsters in Monu Goyat and Rishank Devadiga are a positive sign for the top-ranked side.
Coach Reddy heaped praise on the team's skipper and defenders Girish Maruti, and Mohit Chillar after their impressive show against the Koreans. The onus will be India's defence, given the attacking prowess of Iran.
"Throughout the match, Ajay took some great points and then Monu, defenders Girish and Mohit Chillar also supported him well," Reddy said, as quoted by the IANS.
India start as favourites, considering the way they have demolished their oppositions in the ongoing tournament. However, Iran, despite having headed to Dubai without some of their key stars, have been equally impressive.
After routing Argentina and South Korea in the group stages, Iran made light work of a strong Pakistani side 41-20 in yesterday's semi-final. Buoyed by the win, the World Cup 2016 runners-up will be hoping to test the tournament favourites in the final.
Kabaddi Masters 2018: Squads
India
Ajay Thakur (C), Manjeet Chhillar, Girish Maruti, Ernak, Surjeet, Raju Lal Choudhary, Surender Nada, Mohit Chhillar, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Sandeep Narwal, Pardeep Narwal, Rohit Kumar, Rishank Devadiga, Rahul Chaudhari, Monu Goyat.
Iran
Hadi Tajik, Mohammad Amin Nosrati, Amirhossein Mohammad Maleki, Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh, Mohammad Ghorbani, Mohammad Esmaeil Maghsoudlou Mahalli, Mohammad Kazem Naseri, Mohammadreza Shadloui Chianeh, Emad Sedaghatnia, Afshin Jafari, Mohammad Taghi Paein Mahali, Mohammad Malak, Saeid Ghaffari, Hamid Mirzaei Nader.
