Ajinkya Pawar hogged the limelight as the substitute sizzled with 11 points in 11 raids to help Tamil Thalaivas post a comfortable 36-26 win over Puneri Paltan in the Pro Kabaddi League here on Friday (December 31).
The win was Tamil Thalaivas' first of the season.
Pawar had every trick in the book to negate all attempts from the Puneri Paltan defence. He was a livewire as he plotted his game beautifully. He chalked out his escape routes well, had enough firepower in him to escape the defenders’ clutches, and slowly became Tamil Thalaivas' do-or-die raid specialist.
In another match, Monu Goyat produced one of the most scintillating displays of raiding, scoring seven points in a single raid, as Patna Pirates came from behind to stun defending champions Bengal Warriors 43-29.
The win propelled Patna Pirates to second on the points table while Bengal Warriors are now at eighth position.
In the first match, Tamil Thalaivas came out all guns blazing and eased themselves to a 2-0 lead with Sahil Singh tackled by showman Rahul Chaudhari with a scintillating double ankle hold.
The Tamil Nadu team increased their lead gradually with Manjeet picking up bonus points in his raids and Surjeet Singh executing formidable blocks.
Manjeet was in red-hot form and was unstoppable in the initial raids. He went for a raid, took three Puneri Paltan defenders in his wake, and put Tamil Thalaivas in a position of strength at 9-2.
Going by how the Tamil Thalaivas were dominating the game, an all out was on the cards and the Paltan suffered their first all out early into the game, conceding a 9-point lead at 3-12.
A change of tactics from Puneri Paltan, relying on their defensive strength, did wonders for them as they gradually grew into the game.
Pune defenders Abinesh Nadarajan and Vishal Bharadwaj upped their game as the Tamil Thalaivas seemed to lose the plot, unable to free themselves from the defenders’ clutches. A drop in intensity from Tamil Thalaivas' Manjeet was what Pune were looking for and the raider had no answers to a strong Puneri defence.
Puneri Paltan reduced the arrears quickly and were only trailing by seven points at 11-18 when the referee blew the whistle for half time.
Puneri Paltan came stronger after the break while it was an all-familiar story for Tamil Thalaivas as they squandered a healthy lead. Puneri Paltan called the shots after an initial lull as Pankaj Mohite produced a sudden burst of speed and reduced Pune’s deficit to just one point.
Pawar survived a do-or-die raid for Tamil Thalaivas as he thwarted an ankle hold attempt from Sombir to help his team keep a slender lead. He was soon in action again as he dodged Vishal's block and Rahul Chaudhari's ankle hold to extend Thalaivas' lead to six points.
Pawar lifted his game to a different level delivering for his team with agile raids. He brought up his first Super 10 of his PKL career as he helped Tamil Thalaivas to surge to an unassailable 10-point lead with just minutes left on the clock.
Pirates hunt down Warriors
Patna Pirates came from behind to stun defending champions Bengal Warriors 44-30 in the Pro Kabaddi League's second match. The win pushed Patna Pirates to second on the points table as Bengal Warriors stood in the eighth position.
The talismanic raider Monu Goyat played scintillating Kabaddi, scoring seven points in a single raid in the match. Patna Pirates started with a bang, picking up raid points through Sachin and Prashanth Kumar but were soon found wanting more against Bengal Warriors’ Maninder Singh.
Maninder, the star raider, brought out his best as he left the Pirates looking for answers from all corners of the mat. He picked up points at will and overpowered all defensive tactics to return to his half in a jiffy with every passing raid.
Patna’s defensive tactics too looked in place for the first few minutes as Bengal Warriors struggled to keep up with the pace of the match. It was Maninder who helped the defending champions pick up the lead at 11-9 when he sent Monu Goyat and Mohammadreza Chiyaneh to the bench in a single raid. He soon sent Prashanth Kumar on his way in his next raid as Bengal Warriors opened a four-point lead.
