"India's chances to win Asian Games are good" - Anil Chaprana backs kabaddi team to reclaim gold at Asian Games 2023
Recently appointed Patna Pirates assistant coach Anil Chaprana has a plethora of experience under his belt when it comes to kabaddi coaching. He has previously head honcho of the Red Army and Green Army teams.
At the Pro Kabaddi League, Chaprana was the offensive coach of U Mumba in Season 8 before being promoted to the Head Coach in Season 9. With a team filled with youngsters, they performed reasonably well under him.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Chaprana opened up on India's chances at the Asian Games. Having lost to Iran in 2018, the Indian team will be looking to get back the Gold medal.
He reasoned his belief in the Indian kabaddi team by citing their performance in the Asian Kabaddi Championship held in June, where the Indian team led by Pawan Sehrawat won the title.
"The team is doing well," said Anil Chaprana. "They did well recently at Asian Kabaddi Championship where they won Gold. We hope that they will continue playing the same and get the Gold in the future as well. India's chances to win Asian Games are good."
"The biggest challenge will be the Iranian team" - Anil Chaprana on hurdles for Indian team at Asian Games 2023
Anil Chaprana spoke about the difficulties that the Indian team could face at the Asian Games 2023. He feels the Iranians will be the toughest to get past at the marquee tournament.
India did not have the best campaigns in the 2018 Asian Games, with both the men's and women's kabaddi teams failing to win Gold. This was considered a major upset as the Indian men's kabaddi team had never failed to win gold.
Even at the Asian Kabaddi Championship, a second-string young Iranian team put up a terrific fight and almost got past a full-strength Indian team. Furthermore, Chaprana feels that with the Iranian players' participation in Pro Kabaddi, they have a good idea about how the Indian players go about their business.
"The biggest challenge will be the Iranian team," reckons Anil Chaprana. "The Iranian team is doing really well currently. The Iranians come and play PKL so they know all the Indian players and their tactics."
The Indian team for the Asian Games will be announced soon, with the trials already having taken place. Pawan Sehrawat will be expected to lead the side once again in India's campaign. Kabaddi at Asian Games 2023 will commence from October 2 and will go on upto October 7.