Match: India v Thailand
Date: 21 October, Friday
Time: 11:30pm SGT/9pm IST/4:30pm BST
Venue: TransStadia Arena, Ahmedabad
Competition: Kabaddi World Cup 2016
TV Coverage: In Singapore, the live coverage of the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup semi-final between India and Thailand will be on Fox Sports 3.
Live Streaming: Hotstar
Overview
India take on Thailand in the semi-final of the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup at the TransStadia Arena in Ahmedabad on 21 October.
The hosts, who are also the defending champions, suffered a shock defeat to South Korea in the tournament opener by a slender two-point margin. India, who were dominating the tie in both the halves, were outdone by Jang Kun Lee, who came up with a stunning performance in the last two minutes of the game.
However, the Anup Kumar-led side have recovered well from their opening defeat. India won five consecutive matches to seal their semi-final berth.
Ajay Thakur has been India's most successful raider with 41 raid points in the tournament so far. His combination with Pardeep Narwal, who is also among the top-ten raiders with 33 points, has worked in favour of the hosts, especially in the last two games, in which they crushed Argentina (74-20) and England (69-18). Defenders Mohit Chillar, Surjeet and Sandeep Narwal have been in good form as well.
On the other hand, Thailand have had a remarkable run in the ongoing tournament and they edged past Japan 37-33 in their crucial tie against Japan on 19 October to make top Group B and make it to the last-four stages.
Thailand will have to be on top of their game if they are to upset the tournament favourites on Friday. A lot will depend on their in-form captain Khomsan Thongkham, who has been the edition's most successful player with 55 total points.
Thongkham has the ability to test India's defence and Narwal and Cheralathan at the corners have to be able to react quickly to swift moments of the Thai captain to mitigate damage. Thailand also have a compact defense and it was evident in their big wins against Poland, Kenya and Thailand en route to the last-four stages.
Indian skipper Anup maintained that their unit had learned from the mistakes it made against South Korea and that they cannot afford to lose focus against the Thais.
"Mistakes are not good, because if we make any mistakes in the semifinals, we will be knocked out of the tournament. We reflect on the mistakes we made against Korea and we will make sure we don't repeat them," Anup was quoted as saying by the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup's official site.
Despite the opening day blip, India are looking good to make the progress and will be spurred by the vocal home support. The Thais, who have worked their way into the final stages after some good all-round showing, have it in them to stun the champions.
TV Schedule
Singapore: Fox Sports 3
India: Star Sports
UK: Sky Sports
US: Fox Sports
Middle East: OSN Sports
Team News
India
Possible starting lineup: Anup Kumar (c), Manjeet Chillar, Ajay Thakur, Mohit Chillar, Surjeet, Dharmaraj Cheralathan, Pardeep Narwal
Thailand
Possible starting lineup: Khomsan Thongkham (c), Khunakon Chanjaroen, Tin Phonchoo, Santi Bunchoet, Phuwannai Wannasaen, Sarawut Hopet, Chanwit Wichian
