If Opponents Stop Arjun Deshwal, Others Will Step Up, Says Jaipur Pink Panthers’ Captain Sunil Malik
The Jaipur Pink Panthers, who are the defending champions, have been on a six-match unbeaten streak, and closed out the first week of the new year, with a resounding win against U Mumba, in the presence of the Bachchan family, in Mumbai during Pro Kabaddi League Season 10. The Jaipur Pink Panthers defeated U Mumba 41-31, in another instalment of one of the most storied rivalries in the Pro Kabaddi League. A ten-point win against the mighty U Mumba, in their own backyard meant that the Jaipur Pink Panthers’ leadership group was mighty pleased. Skipper Sunil Malik was all praise for Arjun Deshwal after the match, saying, “Arjun was in fine form against U Mumba, scoring important raid points for us. Along with him, the likes of V Ajith and Bhavani Rajput also put in a fine performance in the raiding department. We played as a complete team.” For the Jaipur Pink Panthers, Arjun Deshwal stood out yet again, scoring a total of 17 points, of which 16 were raid points. He had 15 successful raids out of 20. However, the Sunil Malik is not perturbed about the fact that other teams might target him. He said, “If the opposition teams try to slow down Arjun in any game, we have the likes of Ajith, Bhavani, Rahul Chaudhari, along with some young talented players in the squad, who can step up when needed. We have enough time before our next game to sort out such things.” The Jaipur Pink Panthers were aware that they would not have it easy against U Mumba, and had made plans accordingly. Opening up further on how they worked out their plans, the captain said, “We had made our plans for the opposition players and were keen to execute them properly. The U Mumba raiders are good, but we were clear on not allowing the likes of Guman Singh any bonus points during the game. Amirmohammad Zafardanesh was also someone we didn’t want to concede bonus points too, as those points can be difficult to cover up at times.” Up next for the Jaipur Pink Panthers will be a very important phase, as they play their home leg in Jaipur (12-17 January). The Season 9 champions will face the Telugu Titans in their opening game in Jaipur and aren’t taking them lightly. “We can’t take any team lightly during the Pro Kabaddi League. All the 12 teams involved are good squads and we will go in with solid preparations and hope to do well on the mat.” The Sportz Planet Desk
U Mumba begin home leg in style, beat Bengaluru Bulls 40-35
U Mumba got their home leg off to a rollicking start as they earned a commanding 40-35 win over Bengaluru Bulls in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 match at the DOME by NSCI in Mumbai. U Mumba’s Bittu, making his PKL debut, impressed with 6 tackle points. Buoyed by a boisterous home crowd, U Mumba went all guns blazing from the first raid and inflicted an ALL OUT as early as the 7th minute. Guman Singh and Amirmohammad Zafardanesh picked points at will and the U Mumba defence was rock-solid as Bittu’s tackle on Aman put U Mumba ahead 11-3. Bengaluru Bulls were forced to play catch up thereon. Their first tackle point came only in the 11th minute and that summed up their defensive show as they struggled to contain U Mumba’s three-pronged raiding unit. Bulls’ ace raider Bharat was unable to find a rhythm and Vikash Kandola offered some hope but failed to capitalize on numerous chances to inflict the ALL OUT on U Mumba. The home team played with 3 men for nearly 5 minutes and held on to go into the break with a 19-10 lead. U Mumba extended their lead early into the second half as Zafardanesh’s multi-point raid reduced the Bulls to 2 men. Sushil came off the bench to the Bulls’ rescue and scored 6 quickfire points and Aman claimed a SUPER TACKLE, but it still wasn’t enough to stop U Mumba from grabbing a second ALL OUT. With 12 minutes left, the hosts sat pretty at 28-18. U Mumba brought on a couple of players from the bench for the remainder of the match as they dominated the proceedings. Bittu, who replaced Rinku in the U Mumba line-up, trapped Bharat in a fine tackle to claim a High 5. Bulls’ veteran defender Surjeet Singh produced a moment of magic towards the end of the game as he outwitted 3 defenders to execute the first SUPER RAID of the match. Incidentally, this was also the first SUPER RAID of Surjeet’s PKL career. Sachin Narwal followed it up with another sublime SUPER RAID and U Mumba had just 2 men left on the mat. The Bulls went on to bag an ALL OUT in the final raid of the match, but it wasn’t enough to erase their deficit as U Mumba clinched their 5th win on the trot. The Sportz Planet Desk
Dabbang Delhi KC stop Patna Pirates second half comeback to win in PKL Season 10
Despite a remarkable second half comeback, the Patna Pirates fell short of one point loss (37-38) to Dabbang Delhi KC at the Dome by NSCI on Wednesday. Dabang Delhi’s Ashu Malik (10 points) and Patna Pirates’ raiders Sachin (10 points) and M Sudhakar (9 points) were the standout performers of the evening. In a blistering first half performance Dabang Delhi KC inflicted two ALL OUTs on the Pirates. The first came within the first 10 minutes, as they took a five-point lead, and the second followed merely six minutes later to give them a 10-point advantage. Dabang Delhi KC’s raiders, Malik, Meetu Sharma and Manjeet logged an incredible 13 points from 20 raids in the first half, leaving the Patna Pirates chasing shadows. Malik in particular was not tackled even once in the first half even registering a SUPER RAID with a minute left in the half. Time and again Sachin had pulled the Pirates out of trouble in the season, but on the day, he was subdued by a confident Dabang Delhi KC defence as they took a 13 points advantage into the break. The Patna irates defence finally clicked into place in the second half, and inflicted an ALL OUT of their own, to cut the lead down to six points. Sachin came to life soon after, registering a SUPER RAID to take out Ashish, Vikrant and Mohit to pull them closer The Patna Pirates surge continued through the half, as Sachin and M Sudhakar’s brilliant raiding kept them within three points till late in the game. In the end though, Dabang Delhi KC held on by running down the clock to take the win. The Sportz Planet Desk
Puneri Paltan beat U.P. Yodhas to register sixth consecutive win
NOIDA, 3rd January 2024: Puneri Paltan recorded their sixth victory in a row beating the U.P. Yoddhas 40-31 in front of their home crowd at the last home game for U.P. Yoddhas at the Noida Indoor Stadium on Wednesday. Mohammadreza Chiyaneh’s brilliant defensive nous saw him log 7 points as captain Aslam Inamdar took 11 to keep his team at the top of the table. In an electric, high scoring first half, it was the Paltans who started off quicker, not just logging quick raid points but also ensuring the U.P. Yoddhas record breaking raider Pardeep Narwal did not log any for the first 10 minutes of the game. It was high energy and high-risk play, initiated by Mohammadreza Chiyaneh and Aslam Inamdar which paid dividends. The Paltan inflicted the first ALL OUT in the first five minutes to take a 10-4 lead. The setback woke the U.P. Yoddhas out of their slumber and despite Narwal’s inability to log points, they crawled back into the game. AS it was, it was just the lift Narwal needed, as he logged his first two points of the game in quick succession in the last five minutes of the half, before displaying a remarkable bit of strength to single handedly inflict an ALL OUT on the Paltan and drag the score to 20-18. The Paltan did not let that setback hurry them into changing strategy, and they kept up their game plan and the lead through the second half. In a back and forth period though the U.P. Yoddhas kept them on their toes, and despite going down in numbers stayed within two points. A SUPER TACKLE with five minutes left turned the game into a nailbiter, but almost immediately the Paltan killed the game off. They inflicted a second ALL OUT with barely two minutes left to take a seven-point lead, and then Akash Shinde applied the cherry, picking up a SUPER RAID to seal the game 40-31. The Sportz Planet Desk
‘I brought Ran Singh into the game to disrupt Thalaivas’ game plan,’ says Bengaluru Bulls’ Head Coach Randhir Singh
NOIDA, 1st January 2024: The Bengaluru Bulls pulled off a thrilling 38-37 victory against Tamil Thalaivas in Noida on Sunday. Speaking about the match, Bengaluru Bulls’ Head Coach Randhir Singh said, “We should have won this game easily, but a few Super Tackles against our raiders hurt us. Our defenders played well, but the raiders couldn’t execute their plans at times.” The Head Coach further added, “Sachin Narwal won the game for us. I took a risk and asked him to go for bonus points. He attained three bonus points for the team.” When asked about why he played Ran Singh instead of Aman in the first half, Randhir Singh said, “I knew that the Thalaivas had prepared to take on Aman in the defence unit and therefore I brought Ran Singh into the game. Every raider would’ve tried to catch Aman so I put Ran Singh on the mat to disrupt their plans.” The Bengaluru Bulls have experienced an up-and-down season so far. They are currently in seventh place with 25 points in 10 games. When asked if there will be a change in their style of play in the upcoming games, Randhir Singh said, “The Bengaluru Bulls are known for fighting till the very end. We will definitely keep giving our best to win games. We have lost six games in the competition so far, but we don’t want to change our playing style at all.” Follow The Sportz Planet for more such articles
