Pro Kabaddi 2019: Bengal Warriors tame Dabang Delhi in summit clash; U Mumba close in on playoffs

Bengal Warriors closed the gap with table toppers Dabang Delhi with a comfortable 42-33 win over the leaders in a Pro Kabaddi match in Panchkula on Monday.

The Warriors now have 78 points, just four less than Delhi.

Maninder Singh completed his 10th Super 10 of the season before suffering a shoulder injury. He opened the account for Warriors by taking out Vishal Mane in the first raid of the game but Ravinder Pahal’s quick dash ensured he found himself on the bench in his next raid.

Despite leading 3-1 in the early exchanges of the match, Delhi lost control of the game when Sukesh Hegde got two touch points for Warriors.

Rinku Narwal’s two tackles and consecutive successful raids from Mohammad Nabibaksh and Maninder Singh meant they inflicted the first all-out of the game.

Soon, the Warriors inflicted the second all-out when Naveen got tackled and Hegde took out Joginder Narwal in a one-on-one raid. The half-time scoreline read 25-14 in Bengal Warriors’ favour.

Dabang Delhi continued their shoddy defending as they crumbled like a pack of cards and got all-out for the third time.

The Warriors built a mammoth 14-point lead but Maninder injured his left shoulder while conducting the raid and sat out for the remainder of the game.

Naveen trimmed the opposition manpower and the defenders kept their cool to inflict the first all-out on the Warriors but could prevent their rival from winning.

Dabang Delhi now have to win their remaining two matches to ensure they get the top spot.

U Mumba beat Thalaivas to close in on playoff spot

U Mumba edged out Tamil Thalaivas 36-32 in a game filled with defensive errors on Monday.

Both U Mumba and Tamil Thalaivas started the game on a cautious note. Athul MS got two points in a single raid but V Ajith Kumar pulled up a similar effort to level the scoreline at 5-all.

M Abishek successfully tackled Abhishek Singh and Dong Geon Lee in succession but Fazel Atrachali’s quick thinking in reviewing Rahul Chaudhari’s raid, who went into the lobby without a touch in a Super Tackle position, brought U Mumba back into the contest.

Athul MS again completed a two-point raid to put U Mumba ahead marginally but the raiders and defenders of Tamil Thalaivas kept their calm to level the score at 9-all again.

But, Abhishek was alert enough in his raids and bagged four points spread over four raids to give U Mumba 15-11 lead at halftime.

Abhishek continued from where he left by taking out Hemant Chauhan in his first raid as the teams changed sides. U Mumba soon inflicted the first all-out of the game on Tamil Thalaivas to extend their lead to eight points.

Fazel Atrachali, who was slightly off-colour in the first half, put two successive tackles on Rahul Chaudhari with his signature back holds to announce his arrival into the game.

The raiders Athul MS and Abhishek Singh drew inspiration from their captain as U Mumba continued trading blows with Tamil Thalaivas while maintaining their eight-point lead all the way up to 30-22.

V Ajith Kumar bagged two touch points as U Mumba found themselves down to two men. But, a super tackle initiated by substitute Mohit Balyan kept them safe at an arm’s length from Tamil Thalaivas.

V Ajith Kumar brought U Mumba down to a single man thrice but Sandeep Narwal delayed the inevitable by picking up solo raid points in each of his three raids in the dying minutes of the game.

He finally got tackled in the last raid of the contest for Tamil Thalaivas to inflict an all-out. But, it proved to be a mere consolation as U Mumba won the tie.

U Mumba now need just four points from three matches to seal a berth in the playoffs. With their win, the Gujarat Fortunegiants and Patna Pirates were eliminated from the race for the playoffs.