PKL 10: Ram Mehar Singh apologises to Gujarat Giants fans for failing to deliver trophy

The Steelers advanced into the semi-finals after a dominant display.

Haryana Steelers decimated the Gujarat Giants by a 42-25 scoreline in the Eliminator 2 fixture of PKL 10 at the GMC Balayogi Sports Complex in Gachibowli, Hyderabad on 26 February 2024. The convincing win takes them to the semi-final of the Pro Kabaddi League season 10 where they will face the Jaipur Pink Panthers. 

Vinay (12) secured a Super 10 for the Haryana Steelers while Shivam Patare (8) and Mohit Nandal (7) also made key contributions. On the other hand, Rakesh and Parteek Dahiya scored five points each as the Giants delivered a disappointing performance and faced elimination from season 10 of the Pro Kabaddi League.

Both camps reflected on the performance during the post-match press conference and talked about their respective seasons. Here are the excerpts from the interaction with the media:

Happy with the win

Manpreet Singh, head coach of the Haryana Steelers, showed elation in seeing his team produce a comfortable win and lauded their efforts to reach this stage. “I am very happy to see the team win as a coach or as their mentor. Before today, only one of our players had played in the playoffs but now everyone has experienced it. We worked extremely hard to reach here and this is a reward for the effort,” he said.

This platform is made for the youth – Manpreet Singh

The tactician praised his young players by saying, “We indeed have a young team but this platform is made for the youth. Young players are performing well for all the teams including mine. The defence had a good game and Shivam Patare in raiding is only 18 years old, who gets a point from the ‘Sultan of Kabaddi’ (Fazel Atrachali, is a big thing. I am the happiest about seeing Jaideep’s development and his captaincy.”

Mistakes in defence

The tactician of the Gujarat Giants, Ram Mehar Singh, credited mistakes in both attack and defence in crucial moments as the reason for the loss. He said, “The game was under control until halftime. We had performed excellently in defence in the last few matches but today there were a few mistakes like Sombir making advanced tackles on multiple occasions. If both of our units (attack and defence) had worked together, we would have won the game. Mistakes were made in crucial moments.”

A positive season

Ram Mehar Singh glanced back at the season positively after his side secured playoff qualification and also apologised to the fans for failing to deliver the trophy. He said, “Ignoring today’s loss, the season as a whole has been a positive one. We had our ups and downs but eventually secured playoff qualification. Any mistake in the league stage can be covered up later on but making a mistake in a crucial tie like the Eliminator is fatal. Our strong point, which is defence, did not work in the Eliminator.” 

“I would also like to apologise to all the fans of the Gujarat Giants that we could not bring the trophy despite all the prayers and efforts by them,” the head coach further added as he sent a message to the fans.

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