The Puneri Paltan began their home-leg of the Pro Kabaddi League season with a 39-44 loss to the Haryana Steelers on Friday at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune. Earlier in the day, U Mumba came up with a tight 42-40 win over the Patna Pirates.
Though Steelers raider Vinay’s 15 points were undoubtedly a huge contributor, it was their defensive duo Rahul Sethpal (six points) and Jaydeep Dahiya (four points) who played a key role in the win.
In a blistering start, Aslam Inamdar kicked off the game with a super raid to put the home side on the front foot. The lead did not last long though as the Steelers, almost immediately responded with a super raid of their own, Vinay netting five Paltan players to leave the hosts reeling.
The first all out followed soon after as the Steelers took an 11-7 lead.
Puneri Paltan did not let that dampen their spirits and slowly chipped away at the lead. It took two super tackles in a row by Rahul Sethpal – who put in four of his team’s six tackle points in the half — to save the Steelers’ blushes.
Eventually, the Paltan inflicted an all out on the Steelers to take a 21-18 lead, which they took into the break.
The first half had been defined by high-quality raiding, with the teams logging a combined 25 raid points.
The second half though belonged to a rejuvenated Steelers defence, who missed a mere three tackles in the period, while picking up a massive nine points.
Despite the Paltan’s raiders’ best efforts, the Steelers kept hurting them and keeping their numbers limited. They inflicted a second all out on the Paltan with two minutes remaining before wrapping up a 44-39 victory.
U Mumba clinch tight win
Amirmohammad Zafardanesh put up an inspiring performance to help U Mumba clinch a thrilling win. The Iranian raider notched 13 points and he was ably supported by Visvanth V, who scored eight points.
Guman Singh picked up a couple of raid points as U Mumba inched ahead at 3-2 in the third minute. The Pirates and the Mumbai side kept matching each other raid for raid until Sachin Tanwar pulled off a magnificent raid to reduce U Mumba to three members on the mat.
However, Visvanth effected a double-point raid to take out Ankit and Sudhakar M and keep U Mumba ahead at 10-9 in the 12th minute.
Manjeet pulled off a super tackle and kept the Pirates in the game at 11-13 in the 15th minute. Tanwar supported the defence unit brilliantly and reduced the Mumbai side to one member on the mat.
But Heidarali Ekrami kept the Mumbai side in the contest through a brilliant raid. However, the Pirates continued to put pressure on U Mumba and inflicted an all out in the 17th minute. The Pirates rode on the momentum and stayed in the lead at 21-18 at the end of the first half.
Tanwar continued to shine in the opening minutes of the second half and helped the Pirates extend their lead further to 23-19.
However, U Mumba fought back through a flurry of raid points from Zafardanesh and clinched the lead at 26-25. Zafardanesh showcased exceptional form as U Mumba inflicted an all out in the 27th minute. But Tanwar kept picking up raid points from the other end too to keep the Pirates within touching distance.
The see-saw battle continued thereafter as the two sides were locked at 35-35 in the 33rd minute. However, Surinder Singh pulled off a super tackle and helped U Mumba attain a decent lead at 39-35 in the 35th minute.
Visvanth carried out a brilliant raid soon after as the Mumbai side kept forging ahead. Zafardanesh picked up another raid point late in the game and ensured that U Mumba walked off the mat with a hard-fought victory.
