Puneri Paltan thrashed Bengal Warriors 34-17 in an inter-zone Pro Kabaddi League match at Ahmedabad on Wednesday. By virtue of this win, Puneri Paltan maintained their second position in the group standings. For Puneri Paltan, defenders Sandeep Narwal (7 points) and Girish Ernak (4 points) along with raider GB More (6 points) starred to help their side win by a massive 17-point margin, reported PTI.
Bengal Warriors’ Raider Maninder Singh (6 points) and defender Ran Singh (7 points) were the main scorers. For Bengal Warriors, Jang Kun Lee had a disappointing night and scored just one point. Maninder Singh scored two points in three minutes for Bengal Warriors as they led 2-0 in the 17th minute. Puneri Paltan got into the act as they scored first raid point. Jang Kun Lee committed an error and Puneri Paltan followed it with a raid to level the match at 3-3 after five minutes.
It was a closely fought encounter as both teams were level at 5-5 after 10 minutes. GB More socred his fourth raid point as Puneri Paltan led 7-5 after 12 minutes. Puneri Paltan inflicted an all out in the 15 th minute to lead 12-5 as Sandeep Narwal scored with a two-point raid. Deepak Niwas Hooda scored with a two-point raid in the 16th minute to give Puneri Paltan 14-6.
Bengal Warriors were staring at another all out as they were reduced to two men and trailed 7-17. Bengal Warriors forced a super tackle in the last minute of the first half to trail 10-17. Puneri Paltan nullified Warriors’ threat by keeping their danger man Maninder Singh on the bench for almost 12 minutes.
The second half began with both teams exchanging tackle points in two minutes. Bengal Warriors were reduced to two men in the 25th minute as they trailed 11-20. Puneri Paltan inflicted the second all out of the match as Rajesh Mondal scored a raid point to give Pune 24-11 lead.
Jang Kun Lee scored his first raid point soon as Bengal Warriors trailed 12-24. Puneri Paltan scored three quick points to lead 27-12 after 29 minutes. Maninder found his scoring touch soon as Bengal Warriors trailed 14-27. With less than five minutes left on the clock, Puneri Paltan had an unassailable lead of 15 points. Puneri Paltan scored two points to emerge comfortable winners in the end.
Fortunegiants bounce back to keep momentum
New boys Gujarat Fortunegiants’ registered their fourth consecutive win in the league to defeat Bengaluru Bulls 27-24 in the second match of the day. Sachin Tanwar and Parvesh Bhainswal nicked four points each to propel Gujarat’s surge from trailing in the first half. Once again, Rohit Kumar was in fine form, picking up seven points while Kuldeep Singh ended up with five under his belt.
Going into the dying minutes of the game, the Bulls still held a narrow lead. However, With five minutes to go, successful raids by Sachin and Mahendra Rajput tipped the scales firmly in the Fortunegiants’ favour. The Gujarat side held on to their lead. Successful raids by Gurvinder Singh late in the game kept the Bulls in the hunt but they were unable to close down the deficit.
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