Railways take off to a flying start

Bangalore, June 16 (UNI) Defending Champions Railway men took off to a flying start, defeating Tamil Nadu 58-23 in the 26th Federation Cup Kabaddi Championship here today.

The Railway men after leading by 20 points (30-10) at breather further attacked the opponents to earn 25 points and register a win in their first encounter.

In the match played under floodlights yesterday, National Champions Services defeated Hyderabad 58-24 after leading by 19 points (33-14) at half time.

Hosts Karnataka, which had trounced VSNL 55-22 (21-20) in its inaugural match last night, failed to maintain the tempo and went down to Haryana today by a narrow margin 43-47.

Results: Men: Punjab bt Rajashtan 44-30 (18-22); Railway bt Tamil Nadu 58-23 (30-10); Haryana bt Karnataka 47-43 (18-11). (overnight) Karnataka bt VSNL 55-22 (21-20), Services bt Hyderabad 59-24 (33-14).

Women: Railways bt Himachal Pradesh 39-22 (27-16); Hyderabad bt Tamil Nadu 23-21 (9-13); (overnight) Maharashtra bt Punjab 29-23 (8-13); Karnataka bt Haryana 50-40 (19-12).

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