PKL 12: Why did Haryana Steelers lose in Play-in 1 against Jaipur Pink Panthers? Manpreet Singh reveals

Jaipur Pink Panthers secured a close and impressive 30-27 win over the Haryana Steelers in Play-in 1 of PKL 12.

Jaipur Pink Panthers registered a victory against the Haryana Steelers in Play-In 1 of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 12 (PKL 12) and advanced to Eliminator 1, while the Steelers faced elimination.

The Panthers started strong, inflicting an early all-out on the Steelers and maintaining their lead. Haryana made a late comeback in the second half, but in the final two minutes, the Panthers held their nerves and scored crucial points to secure the win.

Aryan Redhu was the star of the game, scoring 5 tackle points, and was well supported by his corner partner, Deepanshu Khatri, who also added 4 tackle points. With this win, the Panthers advanced to the Playoffs and will face the Patna Pirates in Eliminator 1.

After the match, representatives from both teams addressed the media.

Haryana Steelers

On the team’s mistakes in this game

The head coach of Haryana Steelers, Manpreet Singh, first congratulated the Jaipur Pink Panthers and said, “Look, we can’t say that we made mistakes; that team played really well. We can’t undermine their performance by saying that our errors cost us the game.”

“They performed well in both defense and raids. Whenever they needed a bonus or a touch point, their raiders delivered, and their defense was solid, too. Our team didn’t perform well in either raid or defense,” he added.

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Why did Haryana Steelers lose?

Manpreet Singh further added, “The team made a good comeback. They didn’t raid much after the first half, so we had to take more risks in both raiding and defense. Our defense performed well after the first half, but we had to take chances in raids.”

“Their raiders were playing on the third raid, so we had to take risks in every turn. Our raiders played to their strengths, but today the mat was new and wasn’t supporting fast raiders. It was more favorable to the raiders who attacked forward on the leading leg.”

“Shivam and Vinay managed to score a few points, but not in their usual style. I think they played a bit slower, and we made a comeback. However, if both teams had played at full pace, the match could have gone differently. When the match was tied, we had to try something, but our raider got caught, and their raiders capitalized by earning crucial points.”

Jaipur Pink Panthers

On the performance of the defence

Jaipur Pink Panthers head coach, Narender Redhu, shared his thoughts on the team’s performance.

He said, “Firstly, I want to say that Haryana Steelers are a good team. They have Jaideep and Rahul Sethpal, who are like a wall in defense. So we planned to focus more on our defense. Vinay and Patare are both quality raiders, and our strategy was to stop them, which we successfully did.

We made a change in the right cover position and played Mohit there, and he performed very well. Both corners, Aryan and Deepanshu, were excellent. Aryan controlled the bonus flow, Deepanshu stopped Patare beautifully with ankle and waist holds, and Reza supported them really well. All four defenders did a great job for us

On the performance of the raiders and the team for next season

Narender Redhu then further praised his raiders and said, “As for Nitin, he didn’t score a Super 10 today, but his performance was even better than that. He played exactly according to our plan, taking the third raid and scoring whenever it was needed. Ali Samadi, though he scored only 3–4 points, most of them came in do-or-die raids, which I consider equivalent to a Super 10.

These are young players, and they played outstandingly. I feel very proud of my team. For most of them, it’s their first time in the playoffs, and we are building a strong team for the future. From the beginning, we planned to prepare for this season and the next one as well.”

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