Bengaluru, Dec 23 : Dabang Delhi KC defeated Puneri Paltan 41–30 in the Pro Kabaddi League match at the Sheraton Grand, here on Thursday.
The prolific raider Naveen Kumar scored 16 points for Dabang Delhi and was ably matched by his raiding partner Vijay (9 points), as they gave Pune defenders a torrid time on the mat.
The match was billed as a head-to-head between two of the country’s top raiders – Naveen Kumar of Delhi and Rahul Chaudhari of Pune – and the early minutes showed glimpses of both athletes and their abilities.Rahul opened to scores for Pune, who despite lacking the experience of Delhi, seemed keen to match them blow for blow.
But Naveen Kumar had other plans as he clinched points raid after raids to reduce the Pune men on the mat.With Vijay taking the role of the secondary raider, the Delhi duo inflicted the first all out in the eighth minute to make the scores 10-5 in their favour.
Experienced Ajay Thakur didn’t have to make a single raid for Delhi despite starting the match as the Season 8 league winners ran riots to clinch another all out with three minutes remaining in the half to open up at 11 point lead.Nitin Tomar, Pune’s star raider wasn’t going to let the Delhi team run away with the lead though.
He reduced the Delhi to two men on the court but Vijay produced a successful raid to prevent an all out and end the first half 22-15.Pune coach and Kabaddi legend Anup Kumar had asked his men to target Delhi’s Manjeet Chhillar and that is exactly what they did in the second half.
The Delhi defender’s error gave Pune the opportunity to seal an all out in the 6th minute of the second half to close the gap from Dabang to just four points.But a revived Naveen Kumar was in no mood to let Pune sniff an opportunity.
He claimed his Super 10, tackled Rahul Chaudhari and then touched Nitin Tomar in three successive moves to shift the momentum to Delhi.Vijay ensured Dabang’s attack was two-headed with high-quality raids as they inflicted another all out with five minutes remaining in the match.Aslam Inamdar’s late cameo wasn’t enough for Pune to make a comeback.
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Ajay Thakur, an experienced raider, didn’t make one raid for Delhi even though he started the match with the season 8 winners running riots to win another.With three minutes left in the second half, a lead of 11 points was being established.Pune’s top raider, Nitin Tomar was not going to allow Delhi take the lead.Vijay made Delhi’s court down to just two players, but he was able to stop an all-out and win the second half at 22:15.Anup Kumar, a legendary Kabaddi coach from Pune had requested his players to attack Manjeet Chahillar in Delhi.That’s exactly what happened in the second period.Pune was able to score an all-out in the sixth minute of the second period thanks to the Delhi defender’s mistake.This allowed Pune to reduce the Dabang gap to only four points.
Pune was not going to be denied by Naveen Kumar, a fresh Naveen.In three moves, he smashed Rahul Chaudhari to claim his Super 10 and then raped Nitin Tomar to move the momentum towards Delhi.
Vijay made sure Dabang was under attack with two-headed raids that were high quality.They inflicted yet another loss with just five minutes left in the match.
Pune was unable to overcome Aslam Inamdar’s last-minute appearance.
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