Pro Kabaddi League: Pink Panthers pounce their way to the second spot
10 August 2014, Patna: Miles away from home, but enlivened by the taste of recent victory, both the Jaipur Pink Panthers and the Bengal Warriors were in fine form tonight. Jaipur’s Jasvir Singh was an unstoppable force, a perfect match for the immovable Bengal Nilesh Shinde.
As the two juggernauts battled it out for superiority, Nitin Madane showcased his speed and agility, exploiting every mistake the Jaipur defense made. Unfortunately for Kolkata, the match’s progression saw an increasingly cohesive Jaipur team make less and less mistakes, cementing the win for the Pink Panthers.
The start of the game saw the rest of their respective teams carry out a fight of equal proportion, with the Bengal Warriors slowly gaining the upper hand with a clearly superior defense. Down to 3 players by the 8th minute, a closely united Panther defense was able to fend off the Kolkata raids, and with their small numbers each successful tackle earned them double the points, actually earning a 2 point lead and returning to a 5 person size by the 10th minute.
Part of this drama was captain Navneet Gautam, defending against a potential all-out raid from the lethal Nitin Madane, injuring his knee in a dodge and yet still able to play a crucial roll in preventing Nitin from reaching the center line, a heroic action that saved his two other in players from elimination.
After bringing back their team to 5 people, the Pink Panthers once again displayed an uncanny skill for comebacks, quickly turning the tables and bringing the Bengal Warriors down to just one player in about 5 minutes. Jasvir Singh gave the comeback its culminating blow, taking out the last Bengal Warrior and bringing the Jaipur Pink Panthers an all out and the lead with 18 points to Kolkata’s 9.
With their team once again all in, Nitin rushed to close the gap, immediately scoring 2 points. But even with Nitin’s lightning fast raids, the Panthers were able to maintain their 9 point lead for the majority of the second half, with Maninder Singh demolishing the Warriors in a 3 touch raid on the 27th minute. Another all out rocketed them ahead to a 15-point lead, placing the Panthers on track for another landslide victory. With Nitin and Jasvir trading raids, the points continued to rise, with Kolkata unable to close the gap.
Part of this drama was captain Navneet Gautam, defending against a potential all-out raid from the lethal Nitin Madane, injuring his knee in a dodge and yet still able to play a crucial roll in preventing Nitin from reaching the center line, a heroic action that saved his two other in players from elimination.
After bringing back their team to 5 people, the Pink Panthers once again displayed an uncanny skill for comebacks, quickly turning the tables and bringing the Bengal Warriors down to just one player in about 5 minutes. Jasvir Singh gave the comeback its culminating blow, taking out the last Bengal Warrior and bringing the Jaipur Pink Panthers an all out and the lead with 18 points to Kolkata’s 9.
With their team once again all in, Nitin rushed to close the gap, immediately scoring 2 points. But even with Nitin’s lightning fast raids, the Panthers were able to maintain their 9 point lead for the majority of the second half, with Maninder Singh demolishing the Warriors in a 3 touch raid on the 27th minute. Another all out rocketed them ahead to a 15-point lead, placing the Panthers on track for another landslide victory. With Nitin and Jasvir trading raids, the points continued to rise, with Kolkata unable to close the gap.
With 5 minutes to go, the score stood at Jaipur 35, Bengal Warrios 20. Jasvir’s raid at the 39th minute showed that Jaipur was content with this lead as Jasvir leisurely strolled around the Kolkata side, perfectly happy to come home empty. Thus, the pink flags of the audience jubilantly were thrown into the air to mark Jaipurs second conquest in Patna, and a final score of 39-23.