Pro Kabaddi League 2017: Gujarat Fortunegiants edge past Bengaluru Bulls; Puneri Paltan outclass Bengal Warriors

Ahmedabad: With Pro Kabaddi League(PKL) entering the inter-zone match phase, Zone A team Puneri Paltan outclassed Zone B side Bengal Warriors 34-17  to maintain their second position in the group standings. Puneri Paltan combined well to pull off an all-round performance with key performances from defenders Sandeep Narwal (7 points) and Girish Ernak (4 points) along with raider GB More (6 points) to help their side win by a massive 17-point margin. Bengal Warriors failed to work well as a unit in either half. Raider Maninder Singh (6 points) and defender Ran Singh (7 points) were their key performers. [caption id=“attachment_3935209” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The successful Puneri Paltans team after the inter-zonal match against Bengal Warrior. Image Courtesy: PKL official website[/caption] Maninder Singh gave Bengal Warriors a bright start by clinching points from consecutive raids. Maninder along with Ran Singh took most of the load for the Warriors in the first half with star raider Jang Kun Lee on in his usual fiery form. Puneri Paltans were straight forced to go for a do or die raid after their skipper Deepak Hooda failed to clinch points from his initial raids. But Soon Sandeep Narwal began to dominate the opposition, helping his side impose an all-out on the Warriors and take a 12-5 lead with less than six minutes to go in the first half. The team worked well together as a cohesive unit to help the Pune outfit take a 17-10 lead at half-time. The second half began with consecutive empty raids for both the sides. Later, Bengal broke the deadlock to cut short their deficit with a fine tackle point. However, Pune began to dominate as the Warriors failed to clinch too many points through their raids. Ran Singh and Maninder showed some hope for the Warriors through their defence and attack respectively in the second half helping their side narrow the deficit. But, Pune dominated the play and handed Bengal their second all-out with 15 minutes to play. There was no looking back for the Pune outfit after this point. In the second match of the day, Zone A team Gujarat Fortunegiants made a stunning comeback to defeat Bengaluru Bulls 27-24 to register their fourth victory on a trot in the league. Raider Sachin Tanwar (4 points) and defender Parvesh Bhainswal (4 points) helped Gujarat’s surge from lagging behind in the first-half to register a win by a narrow margin to stay on top of their group standings. A valiant effort from Bengaluru captain Rohit Kumar (7 points) and defender Kuldeep Singh (5 points) went in vain in a closely-fought match. After couple of empty raids from both sides, Gujarat broke the deadlock with a successful tackle to get the scoreboard ticking. The home side looked to gain momentum in the match after getting an all-out. Raiders Sachin and Rohit Gulia pulled off consecutive successful raids to help their side narrow the point gap after lagging behind in the early minutes of the match. Bengaluru also opened their score tally with a successful tackle. The away side took the initial 4-2 lead, thanks to successful tackles from Rohit Kumar and fellow raider Ashish Kumar. Rohit continued to display his fine show on the opposition mat to add vital points to his team’s tally and maintain the lead. The Bengaluru outfit also pulled off some fine tackles to all-out the home side taking a 11-3 lead with less than nine minutes to play in the first-half. Thanks to an all-round effort, Bengaluru maintained a 14-9 lead at the half-time. The second-half began with Gulia clinching a point for Gujarat Fortunegiants. Later, defenders Fazel Atrachali, Parvesh Bhainswal and Abozar Mighani combined in unison to give their side important tackle points which helped the team narrow the point gap to 18-20 with nine minutes to play. Substitute Mahendra Rajput and Sachin later played an important role clinching back to back successful raid points in the match giving their side a slender 24-21 lead with less than five minutes to play, which later helped the side clinch the match. The Bengaluru outfit added to their tally with a successful tackle, which was followed by a successful raid from Rohit which earned the team two points. Later, substitute Gurvinder Singh kept Bengaluru in the match through his successful raids but failed to rescue his side from losing all on his own.