Railways Men, Women retain title

Bangalore, June 18 (UNI) It was a grand double for the Railways as both the men's and women's teams retained their titles in the 26th Federation Cup Kabaddi Championship for Men and Women here today.

In the finals played under floodlights, Railway lads defeated national champion Services by a narrow margin 20-18, after leading by eight points at breather (13-5).

In a keenly contested match for the third place, Punjab defeated Tamil Nadu 48-46 in tie-beaker, as both the teams were locked 41-41 (half time 28-15) in regular time.

In the women's section, Railway eves retained the title by overcoming stiff resistance from Karnataka 46-41.

Trailing by two points (22-24) at breather, Railways Women regrouped themselves to defeat the hosts. While Bhakti Kulkarni and Tejaswini displayed their skill in raiding, Suniti Poojari was excellent in charging for the winners.

Mamata Jayanti and Swetha were good in raiding and charging respectively for the hosts side.

Earlier, in the match played for the third place, Maharashtra defeated Hyderabad 31-26 after leading by seven points (17-10) at half time.

UNI MSP GD RR PM2106