Pro Kabaddi League 2018: Schedule and format for the Playoffs and Finals, When & Where to watch
The sixth edition of Pro Kabaddi League i.e., the biggest Kabaddi league in India, kicked off from the 7th of October. After long anticipation, we finally have the six teams which have qualified for the most awaited Playoffs.
The teams are Gujarat Fortune Giants, U Mumba and Dabang Delhi from Zone A and Bengaluru Bulls, Bengal Warriors and UP Yoddha from Zone B.
If you don't already know, Pro Kabaddi League saw it's inaugural match take place on July 26, 2014. Jaipur Pink Panther, the team of Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan were the ones to win season 1's trophy.
Since then, a total of five seasons have been played with the sixth one underway. U Mumba, the team of veteran player Anup Kumar won the second season from Manjeet Chillar's Bengaluru Bulls.
The third, fourth and fifth season of the championship was won by Patna Pirates aka the Pirates from the East. Well, unfortunately, they won't be playing in season 6 anymore.
Seasons 1 to 4 was one and a half month long and had a total of eight teams. The fifth installment of the league saw the introduction of four new teams, which were Gujarat Fortune Giants, Haryana Steelers, UP Yoddhas and Tamil Thalaivas. Plus, the duration of the league was extended to three months.
The format of the league was also altered. With all honesty, the new format for the playoffs and finals is pretty confusing, but don't worry, we have got you covered!
Here is the full explanation of how the playoffs and finals will take place along with the full schedule of the remaining matches:
Format:
The top two teams from Zones A and B will compete in Qualifier 1. The winning team of Qualifier 1 will then safely enter the Final. The team on the losing end will get another chance in Qualifier 2.
Before the second Qualifier, Eliminators 1 and 2 will take place. The first Eliminator will take place between the second-placed team from Zone A and the third-placed team from Zone B. The second eliminator will pit the third-placed side from Zone A against the second-placed side from Zone B.
The winners from both Eliminators 1 and 2 will then compete in Eliminator 3. The winner of that respective round will then get a chance to play with the losing team of Qualifier 1, in Qualifier 2.
Finally, the winners of Qualifier 2 will finally enter the Final where they will play against the winners of the Qualifier 1. The one who wins that match will ultimately get the title of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 6 champions.
While Qualifier-1 and all the eliminators would be played at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi, Qualifier 2 and the Final would take place at the NSCI Dome in Mumbai.
Schedule:
Kochi:
30th December, Sunday - 20:00 IST - Eliminator-1 (U Mumba vs UP Yoddha)
30th December, Sunday - 21:00 IST - Eliminator-2 (Dabang Delhi vs Bengal Warriors)
31st December, Monday - 20:00 IST - Qualifier-1 (Gujarat Fortune Giants vs Bengaluru Bulls)
31st December, Monday - 21:00 IST - Eliminator-3 (TBC vs TBC)
Mumbai:
3rd January,Thursday - 20:00 IST - Qualifier-2 (TBC vs TBC)
5th January, Saturday - 20:00 IST - Final (TBD vs TBD)
Where to watch
You can watch all these matches LIVE on Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2 HD and Star Sports Hindi 1. The matches can be streamed live online on Hotstar.
Get the live updates of the match here on Sportskeeda.