Federation Cup Kabaddi: Maharashtra teams make winning start

Hosts Maharashtra hit the ground running in the Federation Cup Kabaddi tournament winning the opening round matches in both the men's and women's sections here.
The mens team, which was crowned national champions after a gap of 11 years, staved off a late challenge from Uttar Pradesh to win 34-33 in the Group A encounter while the women eased past Kerala 47-21.
In other matches, national runners-up Karnataka thrashed Uttarakhand 45-12 in a Group B clash. Karnataka registered two all-outs each either side of half time and had taken a 27-09 lead at the break.
Payal Chaudhary scored 16 points in 17 raids to help Indian Railways beat Haryana 45-34 in the womens Group A match. The national champions registered three all-outs and ensured that the valiant effort of Haryanas Sakshi Kumari, of earning 15 points from 12 raids, went in vain.

Kumari bagged three points two times in one raid but her efforts were negated by the collective might of the Railways team.
In the mens encounter, Haryana got the better of Uttar Pradesh 37-23 thanks to the latter's strong defence. The winners earned 21 of the 37 points by catching the raider, 10 of which came through Super Tackles.