Pro Kabaddi 2019: Deepak Hooda shines for Jaipur Pink Panthers as bottom-placed Puneri Paltan suffer fifth loss

Ahmedabad: Deepak Hooda shone as Jaipur Pink Panthers defeated Puneri Panthers 33-25 in the Pro Kabaddi League on Thursday. Captain Hooda was once again the star for Pink Panthers, picking nine raid points and marshalling his troops well throughout the match. [caption id=“attachment_7170331” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Captain Hooda was once again the star for Pink Panthers, picking nine raid points. Image courtesy: PKL[/caption] The first half began with a blitzkrieg, with Nitin Tomar securing a bonus point for the Maharashtra side. But Deepak Hooda, arguably the most improved Kabaddi player in recent years, secured a raid point immediately for the Panthers with his signature hand touch and in the process sent Paltan’s star raider Tomar to the bench. Paltan struggled after that and committed too many blunders in defence, resulting in a flurry of successful raids for Pink Panthers. The season one champions secured their first all-out of the match in the 16th minute and the restart wasn’t too different for the Paltans after a raid by Hooda sent both their defenders Girish Ernak and Shubham Shinde out. The half ended with a healthy six-point lead for Jaipur Pink Panthers (17-11).