PKL: Jaipur Pink Panthers outclass Tamil Thalaivas

A collective effort by the Jaipur Pink Panthers guided them to a fantastic 37-24 victory over Tamil Thalaivas in an Inter-Zonal contest of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) at the Rajiv Gandhi indoor stadium here on Sunday.

This was Jaipur's fourth win from 15 games, while the Thalaivas tasted their 11th defeat from 18 games, which make their play-offs dream difficult.

For Jaipur, skipper Deepak Niwas Hooda picked eight points while Anand Patil and Sunil Siddgavali chipped in with six and five points respectively. On the other hand, Sukesh Hedge fetched six points for Thalaivas and Jasvir Singh contributed with three points.

Jasvir opened Thalaiva's account with a successful raid but Anand also responded for Jaipur to make it 1-1. Both the teams' skippers, Ajay Thakur and Deepak, then came with a raid point each to once again level it 2-2 by the fourth minute.

The issue was once again tied at 5-5 by the ninth minute and both the teams traded raid and tackle points as the contest was once again levelled at 7-7 by the 14th minute. Anand came with a two-pointer to help Jaipur take a meagre 10-8 lead before his skipper Deepak's stunning three-point raid not only inflicted an all-out but also helped Jaipur take a healthy 16-8 lead.

The half-time saw Jaipur leading 17-10 against their opponents.

In the second-half, Ajay failed to make a successful raid, while Ajinkya succeeded as Japiur stretched their lead to 19-10. However, Sukesh Hegde's fantastic raid attempt followed by a tackle of Ajinkya Pawar helped Thalaivas to cut the deficit to 13-20 by the 27th minute.

Jaipur took a couple of points in the later moments but Ajay also responded with a two-pointer raid to make it 16-22. Jaipur then inflicted an all-out in the 31st minute to make the score 23-16 in their favour.

Jaipur then further rode Deepak's stunning raids to extend their lead to 27-17 by the 35th minute, leaving the Thalaivas with just one player, Jasvir, on mat.

The Deepak-led side soon inflicted another all-out to make it 30-18 with just four minutes to go. Anand once again collected a couple of points in a single raid attempt, while Ajay's another unsuccessful attempt saw Jaipur making it 34-20.

Thalaivas then made a change as Victor Oberoi replaced Jasvir and the former also didn't disappoint his team, taking three points from two raid attempts to make the issue 24-34 before Jaipur once again roared back in style to collect three points in the dying moments to register a comfortable 37-24 victory over the Thalaivas.

--IANS

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