Kabaddi Adda

Top 5 Women Raiders who shined in 67th Senior Nationals Kabaddi Championships

67th Senior Nationals Kabaddi Championships was concluded in Jaipur earlier this month with Indian Railways winning both the men and women's section for the second consecutive year to show why they are one of the most competitive teams in the Indian Kabaddi circuit. Let us go back and see who are the top 5 Raiders in the women's section of the tournament.

Check out Player Rankings from the 67th Senior National Kabaddi Championships

 

Nidhi Sharma: Himachal Pradesh (55 points)

Nidhi Sharma from Himachal Pradesh tops the chart in the top 5 raiders of the 67th Senior Nationals kabaddi Championships where she was pivotal in Himachal's progress as they finished as runners-up in the tournament.  Nidhi scored a total of 55 raid points in 78 raids she went for to give Himachal a heads up in all games. 

Nidhi gradually started the tournament as she scored only four points in her first game against Pondicherry but showed us all how special she is in the second game against Goa. She was on top of her game where she scored 12 points in 13 raids as Himachal were all over Goa to win their second game of the tournament. As the tournament moved towards the knockouts Nidhi had already stamped her authority in the tournament, she scored a total of 35 points in four knockout games. In the pre-quarterfinals against West Bengal, she scored a total of nine points in twelve raids to keep Bengal out of the game. Her most impactful performance came in the all-important final where she was in top form by scoring twelve points to keep Himachal in the game till the very end but it was not enough as Indian Railways got the better of them. 

Nidhi
Nidhi Sharma in action

All in all Nidhi Sharma had a tournament to remember where she was the lead raider for her team and also topping the best raider charts and she for sure would have caught the eyes of the selectors. 

 

Meenu: Chandigarh (51 points)

Chandigarh's lead raider Meenu was in great form during the 67th Senior Nationals Kabaddi Championships, she was the lone warrior for the Chandigarh team as she pilled up 51 points in four games she played. 

How she started off the tournament was opposite to the way she finished, in the first game out of 18 attempts she was able to score only 6 points. In the next three games, she scored a whopping 45 points to keep the hopes of Chandigarh alive but it was not enough as they bowed their way out in the pre-quarterfinals encounter. In the game against Kerala, she pilled up 14 points out of 11 raids she did in that game to keep Kerala out of the contest. Her best performance came against Vidharbha where she scored 16 points in 11 raids as Chandigarh beat Vidharbha easily to make it to the Pre-Quarter Finals without losing a game in the league stages. Even in the Pre-Quarter Finals, she was at her prime where she scored 15 points in the game but it all went in vain as they went down crashing to Goa. 

Chandigarh
Chandigarh players in action

Meenu had a cracker of a tournament and was the highlight for Chandigarh in the tournament, she for sure would have caught the eyes of the selectors who there to select the Indian senior team.

 

Chhaya: Chhattisgarh (48 points)

Chhaya from Chhattisgarh was seen in action during the 67th Senior Nationals Kabaddi championships. She was in prime form during the tournament where she scored 48 points in 5 games she played, she was also the lead raider for her team and was the key to Chattisgarh making it to the knockouts of the tournament.  

Chhaya started the tournament by scoring five raid points in five raids against Jammu and Kashmir before she got substituted to give the other players a go in a one-sided game. Moving ahead Chhaya was seen in great form as she piled up 37 points in the next four games. Against Kerala Court Direction, Chhaya went on to score ten points in nine raids she went for and gave an easy win for Chhattisgarh. In the next game against Punjab, she was the highest scorer by scoring 15 raid points in 22 raids to take Chhattisgarh over the line in a close encounter where the scores read 31-29 in favor of Chhattisgarh. In the Pre-quarter finals against Tamil Nadu, Chhaya continued her form from the previous game to score 12 points in 17 raids which made sure Chhattisgarh cross the line and qualified to the QuarterFinals of the tournament. In the Quarterfinals, she did not have a game to remember where she could score only six points in 17 raids as Chhattisgarh went down to a strong Himachal Pradesh.

Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh vs Jammu and Kashmir

Chhaya had a tournament to remember and it will be interesting to see if Chhaya makes it to Senior Indian team. 

 

Renu: Rajasthan (47 points)

Local star Renu was seen in action for the home team Rajasthan in the 67th Senior Nationals Kabaddi championships where she was at her best of her form. She scored a total of 47 points in five games which included 4 super 10s in the tournament which helped Rajasthan to qualify to the knockouts.

Renu started the tournament by scoring 10 points out 14 raids against Karnataka where she announced her arrival and Rajasthan easily beat Karnataka. In the next game against Telangana, she pilled up 12 points in 13 raids she went for and not just that but she also got two tackle points in three tackle attempts to put up an all-round show as the hosts beat Telangana in another one-sided encounter. Going ahead in the next game against Odisha, Renu was again unstoppable as she scored 13 points in the game to keep Odisha out of the game and helped Rajasthan win all their league matches. As the tournament went into the knockouts Renu again shined for her team in the pre-quarterfinals against Andhra, she scored another super 10 by scoring 10 points in 15 raids to take Rajasthan into the quarterfinals. The only game she was not at her best was the important Quarter Final fixture against a good looking Haryana where she could only score two points in nine raids as the hosts were knocked out the tournament. 

Renu was a local star and crowd were going bonkers when she was raiding and Renu did everything to keep the crowd going which summed up her senior national campaign. 

 

Sonali Shingate: Indian Railways (46 points)

Famously known as the ''Bonus Queen'', Sonali who was seen in action for the Indian Railways team in the 67th Senior National Kabaddi Championships. Sonali played a crucial role in helping Indian Railways defend their title successfully where she scored 46 points in six games she played. 

Sonali
Sonali in action for the Indian Railways Team

Sonali started the tournament in a positive note where she scored 7 raid points in 10 raids in a close encounter against Maharashtra where Indian Railways won the game with the score reading 33-32, she was the highest scorer in the game as she helped her team get over the line. In the next two games, she had an average outing where she was not to able to score a lot of points but Indian Railways marched on as they qualified into the knockouts. In the quarterfinal contest against Goa, Sonali was back at her very best where she kept taking those bonus points to keep the opposition out the game and ended up scoring 11 points in 12 raids. Sonali again showed why she is one of the best raiders in the women's Kabaddi circuit during semi-final encounter against Jharkhand where she ended up scoring seven raid points out of ten raids to take Indian Railways into the finals of the tournament. In the final encounter against a strong Himachal Pradesh Sonali had saved her best performance for this all-important finals. Sonali scored a total of 13 points in 15 raids to take Indian Railways to another Senior Nationals title, in the finals she unstoppable as she kept getting points at regular intervals but she took her game to the next level when she got those precious bonus points in the second half to take lead and close out the game against a good looking Himachal Pradesh was a treat to watch. 

Sonali
Sonali in action during the 67th Senior National Kabaddi Championships

Sonali Shingate was in her prime form throughout the tournament and her performance in the finals shows why she is so special who can perform in important games.