Kabaddi

Puneri Paltan came up with a dominant display to thrash Dabang Delhi K.C. 42-25 in Match 76 of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 8 at The Sheraton Grand, Whitefield, here on Monday. The team from Pune dominated the mat right from the first whistle to inflict a morale-depleting loss on Season 7 runners-up Delhi. Mohit Goyat picked up 10 points for Pune (including one tackle point) while right corner Sombir clinched a High 5 (6 points).

The Bulls dominated most parts of the match with captain Pawan Sehrawat scoring a Super 10 but an 8-point raid by Bengal, thanks to defenders following the raider into the lobby without a touch, helped the Warriors shift the balance of play and eventually clinch the match. Bengal's Maninder Singh scored 9 points, but they will have to thank their lucky stars for enabling a strange yet exciting comeback win.

With Kabaddi stalwarts Rakesh Kumar and Anup Kumar managing Haryana and Pune respectively, the match was bound to be an intensely-contest affair. But Rakesh and his Steelers had the last laugh thanks largely due to a dominant performance in the second half. Haryana's defenders Jaideep and Mohit picked up 7 tackle points each while captain Vikash Kandola had 8 raid points.

Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat had Super 10s for coach Anup Kumar's Pune side, but they did not get any help from a stuttering defense that conceded far too many points.

The low-scoring affair saw both teams exchanging leads with defences on top. Bengal captain Maninder Singh scored a Super 10 but it was the Warriors' defenders who showed the mental composure to clinch a last-minute victory.

Pirates' defenders Sunil and Mohammadreza Shadloui were instrumental in setting up a defensive wall that even the likes of Pawan Sehrawat could not break.

The Mumbai team has desperately sought inspiration from other players with raider V Ajith Kumar injured. Their hope rested on their experienced defence step up against Warriors' star raider Maninder Singh. But that did not work out and the Mumbai team had to be satisfied with a tie on Saturday as they continued to struggle at sixth position in the table with 28 points from 10 matches.

Tamil Thalaivas produced an all-round performance to comprehensively beat Haryana Steelers 45-26 in Match 45 of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 8 at The Sheraton Grand, Whitefield, here on Monday. Manjeet clinched a Super 10 for the Thalaivas, who also saw their prized defensive duo of Surjeet Singh (8 tackle points) and Sagar (7 tackle points) getting High 5s.

The first-half was a cagey affair with both Naveen Kumar and Arjun Deshwal failing to produce any moment of raiding magic. Delhi started the better side with their experienced defensive line-up charged up for the match. By the 10th minute, they had managed to reduce Jaipur to just three men on the mat. But Sahul Kumar produced a Super Tackle to swing the match in the Panthers' favour.

The star raider Naveen Kumar scored 25 points for Delhi, who were lucky to come out with a win after Titans' Rajnish founding gaping holes in the defence. The Telugu raider scored 20 points for the side. The result helped Delhi maintain their unbeaten run in Season 8 and regain the top spot on the points table.