Air India, State, City police teams score comfortable wins

Mumbai, Oct 3 (UNI) Star-studded Air India and the State and City Police outfits registered easy wins in the Shivneri Seva Mandal-URL Foundation Kabaddi Festival at the Bhawani Mata Kreeda Nagari here today.

Led by Asian Games star Gaurav Shetty, Air India defeated a subdued Bank of India 30-19 after leading 23-12 at the halfway stage.

Mumbai Police 'A' shocked a below strength Mahindras 18-13. This gives the city police an opportunity to top the group, whereas for Mahindras it becomes necessary to win against Port Trust and J. J.

Hospital to reach the knock-out stage.

Shekhar Patil and Anand Alawane struck fine form for city police after Mahindras made a good start through veteran Vilas Jadhav.

Once the raiding duo started making inroads, the jeepmen's defence started looking vulnerable. Besides, over dependence on Vilas Jadhav in attack also exposed the jeepmen's limitations.

Once a mighty power in kabaddi the jeepmen are finding it difficult to hold their own in Mumbai and the state.

In the third match of the day for the Rajaram Sheth Lad Gold Cup it seemed a practice outing for M S Police as they crushed the Mumbai Police 'B' string 35-8 with ease.

The women's tournament for the Radha Lad Cup also saw runaway victories. International Lata Panchal and Namrata Sawant led Vishwashanti to a 21-8 win over Veer Jeejamata 'B'. The trio of Dipti Parkar, Trupti Bhatkar and Bhakti Indulkar helped Amar Hind Mandal trounce Shivshakti 'B' 40-13 without toiling much. In the third match Social Service League beat Om Dnyandeep 42-11 with Sonali Dhumal and Rajani Arde proving unstoppable.

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