Third Crown for Sri Devi

Kuala Lumpur's Sri Devi Kabaddi Club defeated arch rivals Sivasangkari of Selangor for their third men's team title at the KL Open Kabaddi Championships at the Dataran Merdeka on August 10, 2008.

Seri Garing won the women's title after edging Sri Devi and Seri Manjari in a round robin competition. Seri Garing's S. Gomathi was also picked as the Best Women's Player.

The men's final between the top two clubs in the country turned out to be a thriller that was expected.

The first half was evenly fought with both teams playing a highly tactical game.

It was Sivasangkari that took the early initiative. Their defense was impeccable and solid raiding by their lead raider A. Anantharaju saw the side taking a 5-3 lead.

However, Sivasangkari started playing too cautiously and paid the price by losing two successive points. The first half ended with both teams tied 7-7.

Sivasangkari came back strongly in the second half with their tight defense. They raced to a 12-7 lead and looked like they were going to race away with the title.

But, the Sri Devi side, comprising of several players from the KL Sukma side that won the gold earlier this year, started playing more cohesively.

With their lead raiders – former national player M. Paramasiven and skipper K. Siva – finally getting into their rhythm, Sri Devi quickly erased the deficit.

Former national junior P. Vimalenthiran played a sterling role in the defence to swing the edge back to Sri Devi.

Sri Devi's P. Dharmenthiran accounted for crucial defensive catches in the match and was awarded the Best Men's Player for his role.

Once Sri Devi tied the score at 12-12, there was no stopping them. They went to rake in points after points against a suddenly fragile Sivasangkari team.

Sri Devi ended up winning the match by a comfortable 34-17 margin.

The men's competition saw 17 teams from Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Perak, Pahang and Negri Sembilan taking part.

Both Sri Devi A and Sivasangkari emerged unbeaten in their round robin league matches to qualify for the quarter-finals.

In the quarter-finals, Sri Devi A received a walkover from their counterparts Sri Devi B while Sivasangkari were dominant against the Indian expatriate team of Power Tech.

The other quarter-finals saw Bukit Pelandok surprising the more experienced Perak while MIG Sentosa easily defeated Kelab Damansara.

In the semi-finals, Sivasangkari defeated Bukit Pelandok while Sri Devi defeated MIG Sentosa.