The Jaipur Pink Panthers and Puneri Paltan played out a high octane Final, but the Panthers ensured that they stayed in the lead for the most part of the match and eventually won the match 33-29 to emerge as champions of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 here at the Dome, NSCI SVP Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday.
V Ajith, Sunil Kumar and Arjun Deshwal emerged as the best players for Jaipur with six points each on the night.
Pankaj Mohite pulled off a brilliant raid in the opening minutes of the match as the Puneri Paltan inched ahead at 3-1. However, the Jaipur side fought back and levelled the scores at 3-3. But Gaurav Khatri tackled Arjun Deshwal and helped the Pune side regain the lead at 5-4 in the 9th minute. Thereafter, V Ajith stepped up his game as Jaipur levelled the scores at 6-6.
Thereafter, both sides played out a neck-and-neck contest until Mohammad Nabibakhsh picked up a raid and a tackle point in quick succession and helped Pune take the lead at 10-8 in the 16th minute. However, Ajith caught out Sanket Sawant and Gaurav Khatri to help Jaipur put their noses in front at 12-10 in the 19th minute. The Panthers managed to hold the lead at 14-12 at the stroke of half-time.
The Panthers tackled Aditya Shinde and inflicted an all-out in the 22nd minute to take a substantial lead at 18-13. However, Akash Shinde pulled off a multi-point raid and Pune tackled Ajith soon after to get within touching distance of Jaipur's score at 17-18. But Ankush tackled Akash Shinde and helped the Panthers extend their lead further. However, Aditya Shinde caught out Ankush and Sahul Kumar to keep Pune in the game at 20-23.
But Jaipur's Captain Sunil Kumar pulled off a couple of brilliant tackle points as the Panthers continued to stay in the lead at 27-22 in the 34th minute. However, the Pune side didn't give up and tackled Deshwal in the 38th minute and stayed in the contest at 25-29. Thereafter, Badal Singh tackled V Ajith and Aditya Shinde effected a raid, but Puneri still couldn't find a way to level the scores as Jaipur led at 31-29 in the dying minutes of the game. The Panthers played their cards perfectly in the final seconds of the match and clinched their second Pro Kabaddi League title.
( With inputs from ANI )
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