Kabaddi World Cup 2016: Here's who India could play in the semi-finals

After the initial scare against South Korea, India have recovered well and qualified for the semi-finals of the Kabaddi World Cup 2016. Anup Kumar and co handed England a heavy 69-18 defeat on Tuesday and ended as runners-up in Group B behind South Korea, who have been victorious in all their five matches. As runners-up of their group, India have qualified fro the last four but their opponents for the semi-final haven’t been decided yet. [caption id=“attachment_3060804” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Current Group A standings.[/caption] According to the current standings, Group A table-toppers South Korea are potentially poised to meet Kenya in the semi-finals. India, who are second in Group A, are expected to play Iran in the last four. The only match remaining in Group A is Bangladesh vs Argentina, and the result of this encounter will not affect the top two rankings. However in Group B, Thailand play Japan on Wednesday and if they win the game, Thailand will top the group because they will have a higher score difference (SD) than Iran. But, they are not the only team who could go through to the semi-finals. Japan and Kenya can also qualify. Here’s a look at all the possible scenarios ahead of the last round of group matches in the Kabaddi World Cup. [caption id=“attachment_3060818” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Current Group B standings.[/caption] Scenario 1:  The first situation is straightforward. If Thailand win their last game of the World Cup against Japan, they will meet India in the semi-finals. Scenario 2:  Kenya, who are placed second as of now, can advance only if Japan win the game by 7 points but by less than 33 points. A Japan win would mean they would be on 16 points along with Kenya. But the Kenyans have a better score difference and would automatically qualify for the next round. If this scenario occurs, India will face-off against Iran for a spot in the final. Scenario 3:  Japan have an outside chance of making the last four. But for that, they will have to defeat Thailand by more than 33 points, which would ensure that they would finish second in Group B. If the Japenese achieve this mammoth task, they will play the South Koreans in the semi-finals and it wouldn’t change India’s fixture — the hosts will still meet Iran. Scenario 4: If Japan win the Thailand encounter by less than seven points, the latter will get one point. This situation would leave all three teams — Thailand, Kenya and Japan — with equal points. However, Thailand will end up qualifying because they would have the highest score difference of the three teams. Given the different possibilities, all eyes will be on the Japan vs Thailand match. The Japanese could give an exciting and surprising finish to the group stage of the Kabaddi World Cup.