Former PKL player nearly plotted Chinese Taipei's win against India

Hangzhou: A former Pro Kabaddi League player from Chinese Taipei, who was given just two minutes of playing time in two seasons, nearly derailed the Indian women team's gold medal-winning campaign in the Hangzhou Asian Games here on Saturday.

The Chinese Taipei coach, Tsai Wei Yang, caused all sorts of trouble to the Indians in a nerve-wracking final.

Chinese Taipei, eventually, settled for a silver after losing 25-26 in the tense final which could have gone either way. India thus regained the gold medal they had lost to Iran in the 2018 Asian Games.

Yang, 34, played Pro Kabaddi League for two seasons in 2014-15 and 2015-16 as part of Jaipur Pink Panthers team.

"I spent two seasons in India, playing Pro Kabaddi League for Jaipur Pink Panthers," Yang told PTI.

"They did not have time for me to practice with them. I played just one match, that also for just two minutes. I spent myself by video taping and learning from that," he added.

Indian head coach Tejeswini Bai acknowledged Yang's role in lifting the Chinese Taipei team to this level.

"Yes, he (Yang) was in the PKL in the Jaipur Pink Panthers team. He took coaching from the Indian coaches and he worked very hard for the last four-five years. Under him the Chinese Taipei team has become even stronger," she said.

"No doubt, the Chinese Taipei team finished third in the 2018 Asian Games but we had not thought that they would be this strong this time. They even beat Iran in the semifinals.

"We had come here preparing strategies against Iran (2018 Asian Games champions)," she said.

Interestingly, Yang is the first professional kabaddi player from Chinese Taipei and he did a PhD in kabaddi in National Taiwan University.

"I learnt a lot from India. All the skill sets I have taught the team I learned from India. The Chinese Taipei team has also trained in India in the past," he said.

"India is an intimidating team, formidable in kabaddi. They have a lot of experienced players but my players fought like lionesses," he said.

"Over the next 5-10 years, I think Chinese Taipei will have the same amount of players that (are) in India." The sport of kabaddi originated in India which is currently helping other countries in the development of the game.

Bai said it's good for the game to have more competition and more countries should take interest in kabaddi so that the sport can be in the Olympics programme in future.

"It is good that teams like Chinese Taipei are doing well. It is always welcome to have more competitive teams.

"India is helping other countries to spread the game and for the development of the game. The sport should be in the Olympics in future, so more countries should compete," Bai said.

The Nepal women's team, which took a historic bronze after reaching the semifinals, also trained in India before the Hangzhou Games.

In kabaddi, both the semifinalists are awarded a bronze medal each.

The bronze from kabaddi is the lone medal for Nepal at the games.