Pro Kabaddi: Naveen Kumar enters record books as Dabang Delhi trounce U Mumba; Haryana Steelers win

Naveen Kumar entered the record books as home side Dabang Delhi beat U Mumba 40-24 in a Pro Kabaddi match on Wednesday at Thyagaraj Sports Complex in New Delhi to extend their lead at the top of the points charts.

The 19-year-old picked up his 8th consecutive Super 10 (awarded to players with 10 or more raid points) to equal the record set by Pardeep Narwal for Patna Pirates. The third consecutive victory in the home leg for Dabang Delhi made them the most successful team at home this season.

The Mumbai team started on a better note with Sandeep Narwal and Harendra Kumar starting off with strong tackles. U Mumba aimed to keep Naveen under tabs from the start and the defenders managed to do so to an extent in a tightly contested first half.

However, Naveen’s 2-point raid and a subsequent tackle on Mumbai raider Athul MS forced the first all-out of the match on U Mumba in the 11th minute. But the visitors held firm, despite the setback, thanks largely to Fazel Atrachali’s dominance over Naveen who only secured two points in the first half that ended with a scoreline of 14-11 in Delhi’s favour.

But the youngster and Delhi had other plans, as the home side started the second half with a bang. Naveen Kumar picked up four raid points in the early minutes as a few errors from Mumbai defence allowed Delhi to force another all-out on the fifth minute after the restart.

Lack of depth in Mumbai’s raiding department showed up once again as the side struggled to get back in the match despite a series of Super Tackles from their experienced defenders.

High 5s (five tackle points or more) for Ravinder Pahal (8 points) and Joginder Narwal (6 points) ensured Mumbai raiders got no room to stage a comeback in the closing stages.

Naveen then equalled Pardeep Narwal’s record of 8 consecutive Super 10s with three minutes remaining, with a hand touch on Fazel Atrachali.

Delhi inflicted another all-out with three minutes remaining in the match to open a 15-point gap as they cruised to the final whistles, hardly breaking a sweat.

Haryana Steelers continue dream run

Vikas Khandola’s early raiding brilliance ensured Haryana Steelers thrashed Season 6 runners-up Gujarat Fortunegiants 41-24 in the earlier game on Wednesday.

Khandola (8 points), Prashanth Kumar Rai (8 points) and Ravi Kumar with a High 5 (6 tackle points) led an all-round performance from the Steelers that saw the side jump to third place in the Season 7 points table.

In-form Haryana Steelers, who had lost only one match in their previous five coming into the match, started on the front foot with their lead raider Khandola once again in the thick of things.

The Gujarat defence, despite having the best tackle success rates in Season 7, struggled to contain the Haryana raiding unit as the Steelers pulled clear.

Sunil Kumar and Parvesh Bhainswal both struggled to keep tabs on Khandola, and the raider inflicted the first all-out on Fortunegiants with a 3-point raid in the 15th minute of the first half to move an 8-point lead.

Ruturaj Koravi successfully tackled Khandola twice in latter stages but Haryana’s raider Vinay and Prashanth Kumar Rai quickly revived their star to close the first half with score 20-11 in favour of the Haryana side.

While the raiders usually walk away with all the credit for the Steelers, the defence has been more than influential in their winning streak.

The likes of Ravi Kumar and Vikas Kale were in form again, dominating the early exchanges in the second half, which led to another all-out on the Fortunegiants in the fifth minute of the half.

The Gujarat team struggled to keep Khandola on the bench despite a few successful tackles because Vinay and Prashanth were having an equally good game.

Vinay’s three-point raid with 8 minutes remaining in the match forced another All-Out on a hapless Gujarat team as Haryana cruised to a 21-point lead.

Tamil Thalaivas take on Bengal Warriors in the solitary match on Thursday.