Pakistan reach semis

Pakistan qualified for the semi-finals of the World Cup Kabaddi in India after they topped their group on Monday. The United States team were scrapped after their players refused to undergo dope tests by the organizers. AUSTRALIA’S national team has been already thrown out. After five players failed drug tests and two more fled from testers, Australia were left without enough players to field a team, and Afghanistan was awarded their group match in a walk-over. Australia has been officially kicked out of the tournament, the first team ever suspended. ”Five of Australia’s players tested positive in anti-dope tests and two absconded, maybe out of fear of facing such a test,” organising secretary Pargat Singh told reporters.
”Since eight players have to be on the ground, Australia failed to have a quorum at a group stage match yesterday and so have been disqualified. They are out of the tournament.” Australian coach Ravinder Singh has said his team would accept its expulsion. ”We cannot protest the ban … the doping scandal should not have happened. It is very unfortunate but we didn’t have enough time to conduct tests before departing for the World Cup.” The Kabaddi World Cup is being played in the sport’s spiritual homeland, the Punjab in north-western India.
Almost unknown to Australian audiences but hugely popular in South Asia, kabaddi is a physical, often violent, game played between two teams of between six and nine players, occupying opposite halves of a small field.
His opponents, who hold hands, try to snare the raider, tackling him to stop him returning to his team’s half. This World Cup has staggered from controversy to controversy, its credibility annihilated by near-daily reports of positive drug tests.
So far, 29 players, from Canada, Britain, the US, Norway, Spain, and India, have tested positive to banned substances. US team member Manjinder Singh allegedly tried to substitute his urine samples with water and verbally abused National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) staff when he was caught. Officials have refused to disclose which banned substances have been detected, but it is understood several players tested positive to the steroid nandrolone.