Kabaddi: Five teams in fray for semi-final spots

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Bangalore, Aug 23 (IANS)

The stage is all set for the final league phase in the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League commencing with teams jostling for spots in the semi-finals with three spots up for grabs as Jaipur Pink Panthers have already qualified.

Five teams - U Mumba, Patna Pirates, Telugu Titans, Bengaluru Bulls and Dabang Delhi - are still in the running for the three semi-final berths with Puneri Paltan and Bengal Warriers out of contention.

While U Mumba work on a stronger defence and look beyond Anup Kumar and Pawan Kumar to score raid-points, Patna's Sandeep Narwal would have to step up and fill Rakesh Kumar and Ravi Dalal's shoes in case the charismatic captain and his chief raider are unable to recover from a ligament injury.

The chance for Telugu Titans to make it to the final four looks much more plausible now, with the threatening trio of Rahul Chaudhari, Sukesh Hegde and Deepak Niwas Hooda, backed by the strong defence duo of Rajaguru Subramanian and D. Gopu.

Falling behind by a handful of points, the Bengaluru Bulls are confident that support from home fans will propel them to the final four.

Dabang Delhi would have to lift themselves to make the cut. Failing to capitalize on sizable leads and crumbling in the second half have cost this team dearly throughout the tournament.