Puneri Paltan produced a stellar comeback as they overturned a 13-point deficit to beat U.P. Yoddhas 40-38 and finish at the top of the points table in the Pro Kabaddi League on Wednesday.
UP Yoddhas' raider Gagana Gowda was the star of the evening with 16 raid points, while Pankaj Mohite was Puneri Paltan’s top-scorer with 12 raid points.
In the second match of the day, Bengaluru Bulls beat Haryana Steelers 53-39 in their final league game. Bengaluru's raider Sushil was imperious for his team registering an astounding 22 points, the difference between the teams on the day.
In the first match of the day, UP Yoddhas were playing for pride coming into this game and that showed in their approach as they were the better team for the initial 20 minutes.
Gagana led UP Yoddhas’ charge with a stunning super raid that got the better of Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh, Abinesh Nadarajan and Vahid Reza Eimehr. That raid gave UP Yoddhas a 5-1 lead in the 3rd minute, which only grew further.
Gulveer Singh joined the party with a 2-point raid and UP Yoddhas inflicted the all-out in the 8th minute to lead 12-7. Puneri Paltan, who have the season’s best defence, struggled to find any momentum as they had just 2 tackle points in 13 minutes as the opposition led 18-10.
Gagana proved his mettle once again in the 15th minute with a magnificent 5-point super raid that wiped out the Puneri Paltan defence and propelled UP Yoddhas to a 24-13 lead. The men in blue dominated the proceedings in the 1st half as they ended the half with a 13-point lead at 28-15.
Puneri Paltan got reinforcements from the bench as Aslam Inamdar and Sanket Sawant were brought on as Mohite dominated early in the 2nd half. He produced a brilliant 2-point raid to complete his Super 10 and reduce the UP Yoddhas to 1 man.
Puneri Paltan needed a total of 5 minutes as they bagged an all-out and reduced their deficit from 13 to just 6 at 24-30.
Puneri Paltan switched gears as they had the opposition down to three men again in the 30th minute when Shadloui stopped Gulveer with an iron-clad ankle hold.
Aslam struck soon after as the men in orange bagged another all-out in the 34th minute when Sumit was tackled by Abinesh. The scoreline read 35-34 in Puneri Paltan’s favour and this was the first time they led in the encounter.
UP Yoddhas took a late lead with less than 3 minutes to go when Gagana struck with another multi-point raid, but it was not meant to be for them as Aslam levelled the scores with a 2-pointer and Shadloui’s tackle on Mahipal sealed the win for Puneri Paltan. They finished with their 17th win of the season to go into the playoffs as the top-ranked team.
Bengaluru Bulls beat Haryana Steelers
In a blistering first half, Bengaluru were the ones who took the upper hand for the better part of the first quarter, and even inflicted the first all-out to streak into an eight-point lead.
From there though, Haryana slowly hit back, their young raider Tejas Patil in particular inflicting constant damage on Bengaluru’s defence.
Haryana hit back with an all-out of their own to take a 16-15 lead with eight minutes of the half to go and seemed to be in control. But the topsy-turvy nature of the game meant no lead was ever safe, let alone that of a single point.
Bengaluru clawed their way back and right on the edge of time Sushil's super raid meant the teams went into halftime dead even at 24 apiece.
As it was in the first half, Bengaluru flew off the blocks upon the restart and riding on Sushil's raiding quickly took a small lead which they converted into a second all-out to streak ahead 34-29. Unlike the first half though this time they did not let their momentum slip and kept Haryana at bay going into the final five minutes of the game.
Sushil's constant menace gave Bengaluru a six point lead to protect with five minutes of the game left. Some astute play meant they kept running the clock down while also shutting the door on Haryana’s raiders. They followed it up with another all-out with a minute to play to go into an unassailable lead which they held all the way to a deserved victory.
Playoffs scheduled for February 26
As the league stage wrapped up, the playoffs to decide the champions of Season 10 will begin on February 26 in Hyderabad. Dabang Delhi will take on Patna Pirates in Eliminator 1, while Haryana Steelers will face off against Gujarat Giants in Eliminator 2.
The winner of Eliminator 1 will be up against the table toppers, Puneri Paltan in the first semi-final and the winner of Eliminator 2 will take on the second-placed side, Jaipur Pink Panthers in the second semi-final, with both semi-finals scheduled to be played on February 28.
The winners of both semi-finals will play the final on March 1.