Dabang Delhi got their title defence off to a solid start with a 41-27 win over U Mumba in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 opener at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.
Naveen Kumar – skipper of the Delhi team this year – continued his rich vein of form with a solid 13 points, as he guided his team to a straight-forward win against the Season 2 champions.
In the second match of the night, Bengaluru Bulls came up with a 34-29 win over the Telugu Titans to get off the mark this season. Without their former star raider Pawan Sehrawat, who was recruited for a whopping Rs 2.26 crore by the Tamil Thalaivas during the auction in August, the Bulls bolstered their line-up with Rs 1.7 crore acquisition Vikash Kandola, who had a quiet start to the season with 5 points.
Pro Kabaddi League: Teams, format and everything else you need know ahead of ninth season
Instead, it was the Bulls’ defence that kept the Titans at bay, with Saurabh Nandal and Mahender Singh scoring 4 tackle points each.
In the last match of the day, UP Yoddhas came up with a close 34-32 win over the Jaipur Pink Panthers.
Surender Gill scored 9 points, ahead of Pardeep Narwal’s 7 to top-score for the Yoddhas. But there was solid resistance from Arjun Deshwal in the Pink Panthers’ lineup, who scored 8 points to keep his team within reach of the Yoddhas till the final moments in the game.
Sunday’s matches:
7:30 PM: Patna Pirates vs Puneri Paltan
8:30 PM: Gujarat Giants vs Tamil Thalaivas
9:30 PM: Bengal Warriors vs Haryana Steelers
