2016 Kabaddi World Cup: Thakur was the man of the moment: Anup

AHMEDABAD: Two years ago to the day almost, when India defeated Iran 27-25 to win their seventh Asian Games Gold, it was Skipper Rakesh Kumar, Anup Kumar and Jasvir Singh who played their part in pulling off a miraculous win.On Saturday when India staged another comeback win which eventually India won easily at 38 29, it was Ajay Thakur who singlehandedly pulled off the plug from Iran.India's third world title gave birth to a star in Ajay Thakur, a tall (6'1") raider who is now well-known in turning matches on its head. He did just that on Saturday.On a historic night for India, Thakur had 12 raid points for India. But his two most important raid points came five minutes in the second half when India were trailing. Thakur tagged Meraj Sheykh and Fazel Attrachali and thus triggered a turn-around.India went on a 10-2 run thereafter in the next five minutes that not only wiped out India's deficit but also put the cocky Iranians under pressure from which they never recovered.Anup showered praises on his Saturday's go-to man. "Ajay's two-point raid early in the second half changed the course of the match. He won us the final," Anup said.