Jaipur Pink Panthers defeated Bengal Warriors by 16 points in the Pro Kabaddi League in the Kankarbagh Indoor stadium in Patna on Sunday.
The Pink Panthers won 39-23 in the end but the match was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests. The boys from Jaipur won the battle at crucial moments and showed why they are serious title contenders. This victory means the Pink Panthers are in second spot behind U Mumba, with two games in hand. Furthermore they've played six and won five of them convincingly. At this juncture they are posing a serious threat to U Mumba.
Going into the match the boys from Jaipur were the favourites and it was evident why. The Pink Panthers who had built up a reputation for their attacking prowess especially with likes of Jasvir Singh in their ranks had to defend stoutly in the face of Warrior attacks on Sunday. Ultimately they managed to keep the Warriors at bay.
The game began with both the Pink Panthers and the Warriors trying to seize the initiative. The Bengal side held fort as Pink Panthers mounted attacks early on. This strategy did not seem to pay off for the Panthers as by the eighth minute they had only three players on the floor.
The Warriors could not take advantage of this, though. Nitin Madane, the Bengal raider, tried his best to get past the Jaipur defence but he was stopped by Navneet Gautam, the Jaipur skipper. Gautam, in trying to prevent, Madane from scoring, hurt his knee but he persevered.
This provided some impetus to Jaipur, who then attacked and scored a couple of points. From here on Jasvir showed his class as he went about increasing the Panthers' lead, eventually procuring a nine-point advantage. The scoreline read 18-9 in the Pink Panthers' favour at this point.
In the second half the Pink Panthers saw to it they would not surrender their lead even as Madane started to strike for Bengal by scoring two points. The Panthers though, even in the face of Madane's aggression, did not yield and kept their lead intact. After warding off Madane they started to dominate. The lead for the Panthers swelled as there was a fifteen-point gap between them and the Warriors in the second half.
Madane continued to attack, but, he was unable to reduce the difference in points and prevent the Bengal Warriors from losing.
Points Table
1] U Mumba 33 points
2] Jaipur Pink Panthers- 25 points
3 ]Patna Pirates - 23 points
4] Bengaluru Bulls - 21 points
5] Dabang Delhi - 16 points
6] Bengal Warriors - 15 points
7] Telugu Titans - 10 points
8] Puneri Paltan - 8 points
