Pro Kabaddi: Jaipur celebrate homecoming by becoming Numero Uno
20th August 2014, Jaipur: After a host of entertaining matches in the beautiful port city of Vizag, the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League entered the Pink Panthers' den in the historical city of Jaipur. The star-studded Sawai Man Singh Indoor Stadium made way for a memorable clash between the home-team and visitors Bengaluru Bulls. With both teams looking for a win, Bengaluru after a draw and Jaipur after a drubbing, had a lot to play for. Yet Jaipur had a slight advantage in the form of the vociferous army of pink fans who came in to cheer for their Panthers. Visibly impatient for the game to begin, the crowd was all set for a cracker of a contest.
As the match began amongst a host of celebrities and the Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje, both the Kabaddi armies put their best foot forth. After going tooth and nail in the first half, Jaipur clearly dominated the second, getting the better of the Bulls taking the final score to 36-31 in their favour. With this win, Jaipur Pink Panthers also claimed the top-spot in the League table.
The match began with a bitter news for Bengaluru, who had to play without their best raider Ajay Thakur. However, Bengaluru Bulls did not let that stop their charge as Jaipur was left with two men by the second minute. But Jasvir Singh had his own plans for the Bulls as he mauled two Bengaluru defenders soon after. Like a charging Bull, Rajesh Mondal, with a brilliant raid took down Jasvir Singh, leaving Jaipur in a spot of bother yet again.
By the eighth minute, Jaipur's problem escalated as they conceded their firs LONA points. Rajesh Mondal in an unstoppable mood ousted Rohit Rana, his fourth victim up till the twelfth minute. But Panthers' Rajesh Narwal decided to stop the charging Bulls by bringing down 3 of their players including Captain Manjit Chillar. Following it up in the very next minute, Jasvir Singh did his bit of damage by ousting two Bengaluru players. A closely fought round, the scores at half-time were 17-20 in favour of the visitors.
After a short welcoming ceremony for the Honourable Chief Minister of State during the half-time break, the second half began even more ceremoniously as a three-man Bengaluru army, took down the smiling assassin Jasvir Singh. Rejuvenated by the crowd's thunderous cheers, Jaipur earned their first LONA points as they overthrew the lone-standing Bull Gurpreet Singh. By the 26th minute both the teams were tied with a score of 24.
Earning his 7th raid point Rajesh Narwal got rid of the Bengaluru skipper, and another Pink Panther Maninder followed it up by getting two points off his raid. As Bulls' Pramod Singh left the field of play, Bengaluru was yet again a one man army and consequently they conceded their second set of LONA points. With the pressure mounting on them, Bengaluru captain Manjit Chillar got into an argument with the referee and was suspended from the match. Soon after, stating their home territory, Jaipur started their home run on a winning note. The home team overthrew the Bulls by 5 points.
Team Standings as on 20.08.2014:
