Jaipur: Prior to the start of the 20th Asian Games, Neeta Dadwe had promised to achieve an unique hat-trick as a Indian women’s kabaddi coach. She fulfilled her dream and guided the national team to a gold medal with a hard-fought 37-34 victory over Iran in the final on Saturday.“I am absolutely delighted with this rare achievement. Having guided the Indian team to triumph at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea and 2016 South Asian Games, I maintained my perfect record in Japan too. What I couldn’t achieve as a player, I did with my coaching,” Neeta told TOI on Sunday.Arjuna Award winner Neeta was all praise for the young team which defended the gold medal in style.
Indian women’s kabaddi team coach Neeta Dadwe achieves unique hat-trick by guiding the national team to triumph once again in Japan
“Compared to earlier editions including the 2014 Asian Games, the present team mostly consists of youngsters. The girls really lived up to the form and reputation to deliver the gold medal. The final against Iran was an exciting affair but our players showed strong character to overcome the late challenge from our opponents,” said Neeta, a former Indian kabaddi team player.The Nagpur-born player said beating Iran in the league stages by 14 points really helped the team before the final.“We were confident of defeating Iran after we outclassed them in the group fixture. We knew they might bounce back strongly but we were ready for every challenge. We entered the final with a different strategy and also made a few changes. We exploited their weak left corner and our main left raider Nikita Kumari did the job for us. Overall 17-year-old Nikita from Gurugram performed brilliantly along with captain Pushpa Rana, Sanju Devi and Pooja,” added Neeta.
Indian women’s kabaddi team coach Neeta Dadwe achieves unique hat-trick by guiding the national team to triumph once again in Japan
The former Indian Railways captain stated that the double gold medal in Japan was the result of proper preparations and perfect planning by the national kabaddi federation.“Both men’s and women’s kabaddi teams won gold medals because of systematic planning. We had long and fruitful coaching camps in the last few months which really helped us build a strong unit. The national kabaddi federation truly supported us in a big way. Rajasthan’s senior official Tejasvi Gehlot has always helped in building a strong team and fulfilling all our demands positively,” said Neeta Dadwe, an employee of Indian Railways, Secunderabad.
