PKL 9: Bengal Warriors, Tamil Thalaivas win, UP Yoddhas, Haryana Steelers share points

Maninder Singh was the pick of the players as he picked 20 points against Gujarat Giants today.

The Bengal Warriors put up a clinical performance to register a 45-40 victory over Gujarat Giants in the vivo Pro Kabaddi League PKL Season 9 at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi in Pune on Saturday. Captain Maninder Singh led from the front for the Warriors with 20 points in the match. In the other games of the day, Tamil Thalaivas registered a win over Telugu Titans whereas, UP Yoddhas and Haryana Steelers shared three points each from the final game.

Rakesh effected a few raids as the Gujarat Giants took the lead at 10-8 in the 9th minute. However, the Warriors inflicted an ALL OUT in the 12th minute and inched ahead at 14-12. Soon after, Captain Maninder Singh pulled off a SUPER RAID as the Bengal side took a massive lead at 21-14. Thereafter, the Warriors extended their lead even further after Deepak Hooda tackled Parteek Dhaiya to inflict another ALL OUT on the Giants. Maninder kept picking up raid points as the Warriors ended the first half with their noses in front at 32-18.

The Giants showed more urgency in the second half, but the Warriors still held a comfortable lead at 33-21 in the 25th minute. However, Gujarat kept chipping away at the lead as they inflicted an ALL OUT in the 28th minute. The Giants tackled Maninder in the 32nd minute, but Bengal stayed in the lead at 37-31. Moments later, the side from Gujarat inflicted another ALL OUT and were back in the game at 36-38. However, the Bengal side held their nerve in the last few minutes and ensured that they stayed in the lead till the end of the game.

PKL 9 Day 25 Match 2: Tamil Thalaivas 39-31 Telugu Titans

Ajinkya Pawar pulled off a magnificent six-point raid just before the final whistle as the Tamil Thalaivas came up trumps 39-31 in a battle of the two southern teams at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi in Pune on Saturday. Both sides played a neck and neck contest until Pawar's Super Raid, which turned the tide towards Thalaivas' favour.

In a slow burn first half, both teams played cautiously, raiders from both sides not risking much and finding scarce success whenever they did commit fully. It was a display of how committed the two defences were and was borne out by the stats too. At the end of the half, both teams had an equal number of raid and tackle points, a rarity in the league.

Nonetheless, it was the Titans who actually kept the pressure up through the period, and reduced the Thalaivas to three players for the greater part of the final five minutes of the half. A SUPER TACKLE by Sagar on Abhishek Singh helped the Thalaivas avoid an all out at the first time. But with their lead raider, Narender, out for over three-fourth of the half it was always tough for them to take control of the game. Finally, on the final raid before half-time, the Titans inflicted the first ALL OUT of the game, Ajinkya Pawar tackled by Mohsin Maghsoudlou, as the Titans went into the break leading 16-13.

The Titans kicked off the second half in a frenzy. A SUPER RAID by Siddharth Desai caught out Himanshu, Sahil Gulia and M. Abishek to further extend the lead. From there though, faced with adversity, once again the Thalaivas defence, led by Sagar came into its own. Sagar's second SUPER TACKLE of the game caught Desai, and their resurgence began. A six-point lead was overturned within minutes as the Thalaivas inflicted their own ALL OUT to take the lead. 

The momentum swung the Titans' way again and in the final two minutes the lead never extended two points, keeping everyone on edge. With ninety seconds to go and just one point between the two teams, Ajinkya Pawar's SUPER RAID caught six Titans players out to inflict a second ALL OUT and give them a nine-point lead that they held onto and eventually took the win.

PKL 9 Match 25 Match 3: Haryana Steelers 36-36 UP Yoddhas

The U.P. Yoddhas seemed to be well on their way to registering a comfortable win on the night, before the Haryana Steelers roared back in the second half during their vivo Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 match at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi in Pune on Saturday. The thrilling contest went down all the way to the final raid, with both sides settling for a 36-36 tie in the end. 

While the Steelers tried to make some early inroads, it was Pardeep Narwal who took charge for the Yoddhas, giving them the lead in the early exchanges. UP looked to build on from there on in, but Rakesh Narwal ensured the Steelers would be in touching distance after the first ten minutes.  

As the clock ticked on, UP turned up the style too, with the defence overpowering the Steelers’ raiders. Surender Gill and co inflicted an ALL OUT on the Steelers, as the lead swelled to 9 points soon after. The dominant UP Yoddhas ended the first half firmly in control with the score reading 25-15 and Surender having notched up a Super 10 as well.  

In the second half, it was the Steelers who came out of the blocks faster, mounting a superb comeback with the likes of Manjeet and Meetu cranking up the intensity on the raids. Midway through the second half, the ten-point lead was down to 4 and the momentum had swung.  

With five minutes to go, a big finish was on the cards as the Steelers were just 2 points behind the Yoddhas. Meetu was leading the charge for the Steelers in the final minutes and had a chance to go for the win on the final raid of the match, but he decided to tread carefully as both sides settled for a tie.

PKL 9 Award Winners of the Night:

Match 1: Gujarat Giants vs Bengal Warriors

vivo Perfect Player of the Match - Maninder Singh (Bengal Warriors)

Dream 11 Gamechanger of the Match - Maninder Singh (Bengal Warriors) 

Moment of the Match - Maninder Singh (Bengal Warriors)

Match 2: Tamil Thalaivas vs Telugu Titans

vivo Perfect Player of the Match - Sagar (Tamil Thalaivas)

Dream 11 Gamechanger of the Match - Ajinkya Pawar (Tamil Thalaivas)

Moment of the Match - Ajinkya Pawar (Tamil Thalaivas)

Match 3: Haryana Steelers vs U.P. Yoddhas

vivo Perfect Player of the Match - Surender Gill (U.P. Yoddhas)

Dream 11 Gamechanger of the Match - Meetu Sharma (Haryana Steelers)

Moment of the Match - Meetu Sharma (Haryana Steelers)

PKL 9 Tune In details (06/11/2022)

7:30 PM: Bengaluru Bulls vs Gujarat Giants

8:30 PM: Puneri Paltan vs Tamil Thalaivas

Venue: Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi, Pune