It was the last day at Thyagraj
Sports Complex in Delhi and we had a couple of matches. First up it was the
Jaipur Pink Panthers up against Puneri Paltan and Jaipur Pink Panthers, already
on a four game winning streak, were looking to get into the top 4 with a win.
For Puneri Paltan, this match was of little value as they are rooted to the
bottom spot in Pro Kabaddi League 2015 standings and were just playing for
pride. It was a slow paced game right from the start. Puneri Paltan took a
three point lead after 13 minutes but a 2 point raid from Rajesh Narwal brought
his right into the match.
At the 16 minute mark, Wazir Singh came in to raid
but a brilliant solo effort from Ran Singh stopped Wazir in his tracks. It was
a strong waist hold with which Ran Singh lifted Wazir Singh like a fly before
his side supported him. Ran Singh displaying strength and a presence of mind
with this move. Jaipur Pink Panthers inflicted an all-out on Puneri Paltan with
three minutes in the first half to take a 13-7 lead. At the half way mark,
Jaipur Pink Panthers had a healthy lead of 8 points but not a convincing one
though as there have been instances of leads being diminished completely. Ran
Singh showed his prowess in raiding as well while appearing in a do-or-die
raid. He jumped over the Puneri Paltan defense for a point and more importantly
a player revival. Puneri Paltan never looked to mount a comeback as the defense
of Jaipur Pink Panthers was all over their attack. Debutants, Kazuhiro Takano
and Simon Maina Kubura, also got into the action with a successful raid each.
Jaipur Pink Panthers closed out the match at 31-18. Ran Singh and Kuldeep Singh
combined in defense whereas Sonu Narwal and Rajesh Narwal combined in attack
for a superb overall performance to earn the win for Jaipur Pink Panthers.
The
second match of the night was between hosts, Dabang Delhi, and title contendors,
Telugu Titans. Telugu Titans were looking to go on top of the Pro Kabaddi
League 2015 standings whereas Dabang Delhi were looking to close the gap on the
top four. Telugu Titans took an early lead but a 2 point raid from Rohit Kumar
Chaudhary helped his side close the gap. Post eleven minutes, Telugu Titans
lead 7-6 and a super raid of 4 points from Sukesh Hegde extended their lead to
5 points. He was injured during the raid and had to be substituted. At the same
time, Dabang Delhi chose to make a substitution by bringing in Selvamani K for
G S Manikandan. And what a substitution it was as Selvamani started off with a
4 point super raid of his own. Dabang Delhi overturned inflicted the first
all-out of the match by catching hold of Deepak Niwas Hudda. Both teams took a
point here and there until a 2 point raid from Kashiling Adake helped Dabang
Delhi take a lead of 2 points at halftime. This raid was successfully attempted
under immense pressure from Kashiling Adake as he was looking to avoid an
all-out for his side. Kashiling Adake was looking to inflict a second all-out
on Telugu Titans early in the second half but a strong tackle from Deepak Niwas
Hudda and Sukesh Hegde foiled his attempts resulting in a super tackle. After
27 minutes, Telugu Titans were down to three men and Kashiling Adake was
successful in reducing their team to a lone Meraj Sheykh. Meraj Sheykh, known
for troubling the Indian national team at the 2014 Asian Games Final, was on
song and successfully revived 2 of his own team mates. He was at it again and
made another superb raid of 2 points. Telugu Titans were facing an all-out at
34 minutes but substitute, Rupesh Tomar, made a successful 2 point raid of his
own. This raid helped Telugu Titans to take the lead by a minuscule point. Down
to 3 men, Kashiling Adake came in and inflicted an all-out single handedly
earning his side 5 points in the process. Kashiling was on fire, scorching the
mat with his moves and dodges. This was a game of many lead changes especially
in the last 5 minutes. Down by a point, Rahul Chaudhari made a super raid to
give his side the lead. Kashiling Adake came in for a do-or-die raid and oh
what a magnificent raid it was. A dash was dodged exquisitely by him before
running into the lobby to get 3 points for a super raid. Now, Dabang Delhi had
a single point lead. In the penultimate minute, Rahul Chaudhari touched 2
Dabang Delhi defenders to give his side the lead. Kashiling Adake was on the
precipice of something great. He came in to raid and made a fantastic super raid
to give side the lead and more importantly, etch his name in history. He was
now a record holder in Kabaddi for having earned most raid points in a singlematch. Deepak Niwas Hudda came in to salvage something for his side as they
were down by 2 points. He managed to get a touch point before quickly
retreating back into his own half to save time in order to make a raid again.
This tactic of saving time did not work as Kashiling Adake, star of the hour,
came in for the buzzer raid. Looking to just cross the baulk line to make a
legal raid and get his side the win, Kashiling Adake looked to have managed to
get a touch point. He claimed for it as well. The umpire seemed to have given
in but protests from the entire Telugu Titans team made him look at the TV
monitors for a video review. The referral was successful and a point was
awarded to the Telugu Titans who had earned a third draw in Pro Kabaddi League
2015. Premature celebrations from Kashiling Adake turned into distraught as he
swore on the mat about making a touch on Deepak Niwas Hudda. The Telugu Titans
could be seen celebrating in the background as they jumped to top spot in the
rankings. Kashiling Adake was no doubt the star performer of the match with 24
raid points but was not able to help his team across the line. Dabang Delhi
could not make the most of home advantage and with the action shifting to
Bengaluru, the Bulls will certainly look to consolidate their position in the
top 4 of the Pro Kabaddi League 2015 standings.
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