Kabaddi

With a win over Iran, India stood strong on top standing. This was India’s fourth win on the trot. The Indian men’s kabaddi team will play Hong Kong on Friday in the last league stage game before the final, scheduled on the same day. The top two teams after the conclusion of the league stage will play the final. India captain Pawan Sehrawat led from the front, scoring 16 of the 33 points for India.

Daughter of a farmer, Mahender Singh, Saweety initially had to overcome a lot of obstacles and resistance from relatives. Apart from having to undergo all her training on ploughed fields, she was forced to stop playing kabaddi as she was asked to shift out of Haryana if she wanted to pursue a career.

The complete team performance saw three U.P Yoddhas players score five or more points and eight registering at least one point on the scorecard. The Puneri Paltan and the U.P. Yoddhas were eager to keep the momentum going before heading to Mumbai and putting on a show for the crowd.

But if one compares the figures of FIFA World Cup opening day in India to the opener of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season nine, a stark difference in noticed. The opening day of PKL's season nine registered a staggering reach of 46 million (2+U+R) combined with a consumption of 1.41 billion minutes, which is significantly more than the figures recorded for the opening day of the FIFA World Cup.

Parteek Dahiya (17 points) and Dong Geon (9 points) emerged as the stars for the Giants on the night. The Giants needed a win to stay in contention for the playoffs and they kicked off with a series of raid points. The Giants' raider duo of Parteek Dahiya and Dong Geon kept the scoreboard rolling at regular intervals to ensure they constantly stayed in the lead. They inflicted the first ALL OUT on the Titans within the first 10 minutes, to take a 13-4 lead.

The Bengaluru Bulls trio of Bharat (8 points), Vikash Kandola (6 points) and Neeraj Narwal (5 points) did enough to get their team over the line and into the Play-offs. Both teams went into the game with the knowledge that a win would see them qualify for the Play-offs, and in the early stages, there was little to separate them.

Meetu and Jaideep starred in the match for the Haryana Steelers, as they earned six points each to help their team get their third win in a row. Shrikant Jadhav was the leading points scorer for the Bengal Warriors, picking seven points, but it was not enough to turn the tide. Manjeet started the encounter for the Steelers with a bonus point, but he was caught by Girish on the first attempt. With Meetu getting a touch on Vaibhav, Haryana Steelers took a 2-1 lead.