Puneri Paltan became the second team to qualify for the play-offs of the Pro Kabaddi League, after a thrilling 30-30 tie with Dabang Delhi at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium on Monday.
In a neck-to-neck game, Aslam Inamdar (10 points) and Mohammadreza Chiyaneh (4 points) took their team over the line, helping them to the playoffs.
Delhi need one more win to qualify for the playoffs this season.
In the first match of the day in Delhi, Patna Pirates extended their unbeaten run to six games after beating defending champions Jaipur Pink Panthers 36-33.
After an initial feeling out period, Pune streaked into a small lead early in the game, their credentials as one of the best teams this season shown clearly. And yet Delhi were not overawed, slowly clawing back into contention courtesy of their defense, before the raiding department took charge.
One of the revelations of the season, Ashu Malik ensured that Delhi never lost steam or hope despite trailing for the initial period of the game. Soon enough his sporadic touch points gave them a lead, and they inflicted the first all-out with four minutes of the half left to take a 15-9 lead. It was a lead they extended to eight points at half time.
Pune's season has been built on a team that never gives up, no matter the deficit, and so it proved in the second half. Led by Inamdar, they reduced Delhi's numbers on the mat and got an all-out of their own to reduce the gap to three points.
Just when it seemed that the momentum had shifted in favour of Pune, Delhi hit back, Ashish's tackle on a quick-thinking Chiyaneh bringing the crowd to its feet. Chiyaneh, notorious for his quick raids was caught out for once as Delhi wrestled him and the lead back within their grasp.
The final five minutes of the game descended into a frenzy, with the two teams never separated by more than two points at any stage. With the final two raids of the evening, Pune picked up the crucial points that drew them level, and deservedly to a tie.
Patna beat Jaipur
Jaipur, who have already qualified for the playoffs, started on a bright note as they raced to an early lead. Patna, who are in the race to seal their spot in the play-offs, prevented one all-out courtesy of Sudhakar M, but just before the strategic timeout, he was tackled by Sunil Kumar as Patna gave their opponents the three points.
For Patna, all eyes were on Sudhakar, who seemed like the bright spot. However, he was not ably supported by his teammates as Jaipur began to take a decisive lead in the game. Arjun Deshwal kept the pressure up on his team, and from the other side, it was Sachin who worked hard to get his side into the game as the score read 18-14 at the end of the first half.
Patna turned the game almost immediately at the start of the second half, getting Jaipur all out in the opening minutes of the second half. This gave the team a lot of confidence, allowing them to level the score.
This did not deter Jaipur as Deshwal reached his SUPER 10, and 200 raid points in Season 10, before Sachin was trapped in a double thigh hold, giving Jaipur a SUPER TACKLE to their name. They recovered from their slow start to the half, staying ahead of their opponents by a single point as the match went into a close battle.
Just when the match seemed to be swaying in one direction, Patna skipper Sachin stuck to get Jaipur all out and give his team the lead. This was enough to keep them above the two-time defending champions and sealed an important win to boost their chances of reaching the play-offs.