Puneri Paltan put up an exemplary performance to beat the Jaipur Pink Panthers 32-24 in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Aslam Inamdar's 13 points proved to be the big difference between the two sides that were jostling for control throughout the game.
The two teams went neck in neck, matching raid for raid and tackle for a tackle for most of the opening period. The Paltan's Aslam Inamdar was prolific in the early stages, his speed and agility troubling the Pink Panthers' defence on every raid. Soon enough, his raids started adding up, and in the last five minutes of the first half, Paltan started pulling away. In the last few seconds of the first half, they affected the first All Out of the evening, going into the break with a 17-11 lead.
The Pink Panthers came roaring into the game in the second period, and the raiding duo of Arjun Deshwal and Rahul Chaudhari suddenly landed all their raids and put the seasoned Paltan defence under immense pressure. Point by point they reduced the deficit, as the Paltan kept losing players on the mat.
With an all-out looming though, the Paltan's big guns rallied together. First, a super tackle by Gaurav Khatri put Deshwal out of the equation, and then almost immediately another one, this time by Mohammad Nabibaksh put Chaudhari out. From staring at an all-out, the Paltan suddenly pulled into an eight-point lead.
From thereon, Fazel Atrachali never let his team drop their concentration as they kept picking up crucial points, keeping the Pink Panthers at an arm's length, and eventually even denied them a consolation point from the game.
( With inputs from ANI )
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