Pro Kabaddi League: Patna Pirates clinch maiden title
The third season saw Patna stamp their authority in the tournament with a 31-28 victory over U Mumba in the final.
New Delhi: Patna Pirates recorded a maiden title triumph as they once again stamped their authority in the tournament with a 31-28 victory over U Mumba in the final of Pro Kabaddi here on Saturday.
The third season of the tournament ended on a high note, thanks to the splendid performance of Patna team which continued their dream winning sequence. The match ended in favour of Patna Pirates after a thrilling 40-minute play.
Rohit Kumar of Patna Pirates was awarded Best Raider and Mohit Chillar of U Mumba the Best Defender of the Match. Rishank Devadiga of U Mumba finished a dream season as the most successful raider with 106 points.
Earlier in the evening, Puneri Paltan beat Bengal Warriors in the battle for the third place, raider Deepak Niwas Hooda top scoring for the Puneri Paltan with 9 points.
The final in the capital, attended by over 10,000 spectators, was a fitting tribute to over a month of enthralling action of Pro Kabaddi. With the players, franchises and audiences hungry for more of the indigenous sport, the wait until June 2016 will be a long one.
Led ably by Manpreet Singh with Rohit Kumar and Sandeep Narwal at the forefront of attack and defense, Patna Pirates dashed the hopes of defending champions and three-time finalist U Mumba in a pulsating final at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium late last night.
Patna Pirates had established a 19-11 lead at the break which in the final analysis set U Mumba back. A do-or-die raid by substitute Deepak Narwal with the scores at 29-28 in favour of U Mumba tilted the scales for the last time in Patna Pirates' favour. The two points, including a bonus, came as a result of Rakesh Kumar's inability to check Deepak Narwal.
Anup Kumar, the U Mumba captain, still had the last opportunity to redeem the situation but his desperate lunge to get D Suresh Kumar for a touch saw him go off the court and the Patna Pirates captured the title and a cash award of Rupees 1 crore as the stadium burst into a frenzy.
Anup Kumar started with a bonus with his first raid to give Mumbai a positive start but Patna Pirates were simply unstoppable thereafter as they inflicted an all-out over their rivals in the seventh minute to lead 10-2.
The first salvo fired, Patna Pirates kept up the pressure through Rohit Kumar and substitute Rajesh Mondal. Brought in after they lost top raider of the Patna Pirates, Pardeep Narwal, to an ankle injury, the former, a do-or-die specialist came out successful three times. Rohit Kumar with a tally of seven gave his team what it wanted.