In their first PKL final, Puneri Paltan defeated Tamil Thalaivas. While Jaipur Pink Panthers defeated Bengaluru Bulls in the other semi-final. Puneri Paltan defeated a strong Tamil Thalaivas, a first-half shortage, and injury-hit looters to meet all requirements for the Master Kabaddi Association last — they’re very first. Mohammad Nabibakhsh (6 points) and Pankaj Mohite (16 points) led the Puneri Paltan to a 39-37 victory over the Puneri Paltan on Thursday at the Dome. NSCI SVP Stadium in Mumbai.
There were early indications that this would be a close game between the two teams. But that was before the Thalaivas defense woke up and took control of the game. As the Paltan faltered, Narender and Ajinkya Pawar’s raids were soon complemented by the excellent defense. The Paltan had to make a lot of super tackles to delay what would have been an early all-out, and when the first one did come, the Thalaivas jumped out to a 15-11 lead.
Presently, in a state of harmony and in control the Thalaivas began controlling the game, and regardless of falling in numbers to a few splendid strikes by Pankaj Mohite, they got a few super handles of their own to guarantee they didn’t give up a hard and fast. The Thalaivas held a 21-15 lead going into the break, despite having fewer mat players.
In order to regain momentum, Paltan came out in the second half determined to inflict an early all-out. Missing their two lead marauders in the game, and facing major areas of strength for a Thalaivas unit demonstrated troublesomely. Mohammad Nabibakhsh’s cleverness and skill were needed to help them get their own first all-out to win by one point.
The difference between the two teams never got any bigger than two points in the final ten minutes. A high-quality tactical battle was going on, with both teams constantly trading points. Mohite scored all ten of the game’s points, and with five minutes left, the teams were tied 30-30.
It was in that last period that Paltan commander Fazel Atrachali sprung to life, the two of his tackle points of the game, coming in time to take care of business and both eliminating Ajinkya Pawar. With scarcely three minutes left, the Paltan got their subsequent completely out of the game to take a 36-30 lead. They never lost that lead, keeping the Thalaivas at a safe distance to smartly win the game and advance to the final.
The Jaipur Pink Panthers defeated the Bengaluru Bulls 49-29 in the first semifinal to advance to the finals. Sahul Kumar arose as the best player for the Pumas with 10 tackle focuses in the match. The Panthers took a 5-3 lead in the fifth minute thanks to Arjun Deshwal scoring two raid points. Soon after, V Ajith led a magnificent raid that helped the Panthers increase their lead.
However, in the tenth minute, the Bulls’ defense unit fought back to bring them within striking distance of Jaipur’s score of 8-10. But the Panthers kept moving forward, and Ajith kept shining. In the 13th minute, Rahul Chaudhari upped his game and helped the Jaipur team take a huge lead of 14-9.
The Panthers responded with an all-out attack a moment later to take control of the game at 18-10.
In the 18th minute, Kandola made a fantastic raid, but Jaipur still held the 21-14 lead. As Jaipur held a 24-15 halftime lead, Bharat struggled to consistently break through the Panthers’ defense. In the first few minutes of the second half, the Pink Panthers capitalized on the momentum and went all out. After that, Reza Mirbagheri’s tackle of Bharat and Ajith’s catch of Sachin Narwal gave the Panthers a comfortable 33-19 lead in the 27th minute. In the 29th minute.
The Jaipur team carried out yet another all-out attack. At 43-25 in the 34th minute, the Pink Panthers’ defense unit, led by Sahul Kumar, performed admirably and assisted in their team’s dominance. Deshwal was tackled by the Bulls in the 37th minute, but the Panthers continued to lead 46-27. The Panthers’ raiders then proceeded with caution and eventually secured their spot in the grand finale.