New Delhi: Jaipur Pink Panthers produced an exceptional show at the GMCB Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad as their side overpowered UP Yoddhas to bag a 33-30 win in the Pro Kabaddi League 11th season match on Tuesday. In what came as a double delight for the side, Neeraj Narwal’s 9 points (7 Raid Points) was the highlight of their performance while Arjun Deshwal became just the seventh raider to score as many as 100 raid points in the history of the league.
What proved out to be an exciting finish, the start for both the teams was slow with Jaipur Pink Panthers’ Deshwal opening the scoring for the side, before Gagan Gowda joined the party for the UP Yoddhas. Although both the teams exchanged points regularly throughout the match, it was the Jaipur Pink Panthers who were ahead of the opponents as they dominated the first half.
However, UP Yoddhas came to the fore in the second half as they took a two-point lead towards the end, with the score reading 15-17. Super Tackles seemed to be the name of the game for the Yoddhas as they first got Narwal, and then the fiery Deshwal. Narwal then showed some courage to take charge for the Pink Panthers as they came back into the match just after the dominance from Yoddhas.
Deshwal then rose to the occasion becoming the second-fastest raider to 1000 Raid Points, getting Surender Gill with the slightest of touches. At the end, the Pink Panthers effectively sealed a win by just three points.
U Mumba beat Dabang Delhi
U Mumba got to their third victory of the season overcoming a hard battle against Dabang Delhi K.C. The champions of season 2 proved out to be a better side beating Delhi K.C with a scoreline of 32-26 at the GMCB Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday. It was Amirmohammad Zafardanesh, Manjeet and Rohit Raghav who shined Mumba side to help their team over the line.
Raiders Manjeet and Ashu Malik went off to a quick start getting 4 of the first 6 points for U Mumba and Dabang Delhi K.C. respectively. Zafardanesh soon came into the light for Mumba, giving them two point lead with some sharp raids in the first half. The defenders soon took charge of the game, exchanging blows to ensure they don’t give away any easy points.
Yogesh stood tall for Dabang Delhi with 4 points in the first half, while Sunil Kumar and Sombir did the defensive work for the opponents. Rohit Raghav did the toughest work for Mumba towards end with some crucial exchanges in the second half. Manjeet came to rescue U Mumba in the end, with a fantastic tackle against Ashu Malik, following it up with a raid, while Zafardanesh closed the door on any possibility of a comeback for the oppositions.
