Maharashtra men down Haryana at kabaddi tournament

National champions Maharashtra maintained their unbeaten record in the group stage of the Federation Cup Kabaddi tournament with a 32-24 victory over Haryana here today.
Both the teams had already booked their semi-final berths by winning the earlier two encounters and the hosts once again showed their prowess with a domineering performance.
Vishal Mane opened Maharashtra's account by catching the Haryana raider in the very first raid and after that the hosts did not look back. They registered their first all-out in the 16th minute and took a 20-10 lead at half-time.
Haryana did fight back after the break but the strong defensive unit of Mane (6 points), Krishna Madne and Viraj Landge ensured that there were no hiccups.

Tushar Patil was the star raider for the winners, bagging 11 points from 17 raids, while Nilesh Salunkhe chipped in with seven points.
In the semi-finals, Maharashtra will take on Karnataka, while Haryana will face Services in what is a repeat of the last four line-up at the senior nationals.

While the men were in rampaging form, Maharashtra women failed to raise the bar and were knocked out in group stage after losing to Indian Railways 47-24.
Having lost to Haryana in their second match, Maharashtra needed a victory over Railways, but their challenge fizzled out in the first half itself when they were all-out twice and trailed 12-26 at half time.

Railways will take on Punjab for a spot in the final after the latter rode on Randeep Kaur's all-round performance to beat Chhattisgarh 34-28.
Kaur earned 18 points for the winners from 23 raids and even accounted for three Chhattisgarh raiders while defending.
The other semi-final will see Haryana, who hammered Kerala 38-13, take on Himachal Pradesh.