Pro Kabaddi League Season 6, Match 3: Puneri Paltan vs Haryana Steelers | Result and Post-Match Analysis
The Puneri Paltan, under their new captain, Girish Maruti Ernak, got their first win of the tournament as they pipped the Haryana Steelers 34-22 in a match where the Steelers' raiding department failed to perform.
The Paltan's raiding unit was bolstered by G.B.More (6 points) and Deepak Kumar Dahiya (5 points), who ably supported their attack spearhead, Nitin Tomar (7 points), who for the second game in a row was declared the Super Raider of the Match.
Tomar looked a little out of sorts in the first half as he was unable to figure out the Steelers' defense and could manage just 3 raid points out of 7 attempted raids. But the crucial all-out of the Steelers in the dying moments of the first half gave the Paltan's attack the momentum that they needed to go all out in the final half.
Defensively both the teams were a perfect match for each other as both of them scored 9 tackle points each. While Ravi Kumar (3 points) turned out to be the surprise performer for the Paltan, the Steelers' captain, Surender Nada (4 points) maintained his status as the defensive spearhead of the side from Haryana.
The anticipation before the match was huge as fans longed to see one man perform - the most expensive buy at this season's auction, Monu Goyat. Monu though was ruled out of the match, most likely due to an injury. Without Monu, the rest of the Steelers' raiders, except Vikas Khandola (8 points), failed to storm Pune's defense and the Steelers' poor raiding led to their defeat in their very first match of the season.
Here's hoping that Monu Goyat has just a minor injury, and springs back into action for the Steelers' home match against the Gujarat Fortunegiants on the 12th, and leads them to their first win of the tournament.
The Puneri Paltan next take on the Dabang Delhi at the Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Sonepat on the 12th of October.