Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: How do the super play-offs structure work?
The Pro Kabaddi League Season 5 has reached its business end with six teams from both Zone 'A' and Zone 'B' combined set to battle it out in the super play-offs due to start on the 23rd of October 2017 in Mumbai and Chennai.
Gujarat Fortunegiants, Puneri Paltan and the Haryana Steelers finished as the top 3 from Zone 'A' while Bengal Warriors, Patna Pirates and the U.P Yoddha completed the six teams who qualified from Zone 'B'.
Unlike last year when there were just two semi-finals leading to a final, this year's super playoffs structure will see the six teams go head to head in two eliminators and two quarterfinals leading to the ultimate final. Still confused? Here's how it works.
Two eliminators, two qualifiers and one big final
The super playoffs module is similar to that followed in the IPL except that in the Pro Kabaddi League, we have six teams making it to the next stage. The Eliminators will feature the second and third-placed team from both zones while the first qualifier will play host to the table toppers Gujarat from Zone A and Bengal Warriors from Zone B.
Eliminator 1 (E1): Puneri Paltan vs U.P Yoddha [23rd October, Mumbai, 8 PM IST]
The Puneri Paltan will go head to head with the U.P Yoddha for the first eliminator on the 23rd October and the winner of this clash will move to the Eliminator 3 while the losing team will bow out of the competition.
Eliminator 2 (E2): Patna Pirates vs Haryana Steelers [23rd October, Mumbai, 9 PM IST]
Patna and Haryana will clash for the second eliminator on the same day as the first eliminator and the winner of this match will battle the winner of eliminator 1 in the Eliminator 3.
Qualifier 1 (Q1): Gujarat Fortunegiants vs Bengal Warriors [24th October, Mumbai, 8 PM IST]
Since both the teams emerged as table toppers in their respective zones, Gujarat and Bengal will be given will be offered a lifeline as well as a red carpet entry into the finals. Quite simply put, the winner of Q1 will take the first spot in the final while the loser of this clash will have another chance for a stake in the finals spot in Q2.
Eliminator 3 (E3): Winner of E1 vs Winner of E2 [24th October, Mumbai, 9 PM IST]
As mentioned above, the winner from E1 and winner of E2 will clash in Eliminator 3 and the team that wins this clash will move to Q2 where they will face the loser of Q1.
Qualifier 2 (Q2): Loser of Q1 vs Winner of E3 [26th October, Chennai, 8 PM IST]
This qualifier gives the loser of Q1 another shot at the finals spot while it also gives the winner of the eliminator 3 a chance to make it to the big finals.
Final: Winner of Q1 vs Winner of Q2 [28th October, Chennai, 8 PM IST]
The winner from Q1 and winner from Q2 will clash for the finals.