The eighth season of professional Kabaddi kicked off in Bangalore, because two years later, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no action was taken last year and the game was back on the mat. In the last game of the day, the Patna Pirates defeated the Haryana Steelers in a close match and finally defeated the Pirates 42-39.

Earlier, the Gujarat Giants defeated the Jaipur Pink Panthers 34-27 in the professional Kabaddi League held here on Thursday. In another match, the Delhi state defeated Punei Partan 41-30 and Navin Kumar scored 16 points.

In the first game, Girish Maruti Ernak scored 7 tackles and, accompanied by teammate Parvesh Bhainswal (4 raid points), won an important victory for Gujarat and started their battle.

Jaipur has no raid strength against the well-lubricated Gujarat defense, but it will gain a positive impact from a tactical game.

The game started as expected, and both sides’ defenses thwarted the attackers. No multiple raids were seen in the first 10 minutes of the game, although both groups of raiders were working hard to make a difference.

The first momentum change of the game came from Gujarat’s brilliant tackle from the left corner of Girish, who nailed Nitish Narwar to the floor from a seemingly difficult angle.

With energy, Laksh made the first “full effort” against the Pink Panthers with a two-point raid in the 10th minute, which was advantageous to Gujarat with a score of 13-17.

But Pink Panther quickly returned to the game, and recruit Arjun Deshwal made a deep impression during the raid.

Laksh of Gujarat missed a bonus point in a “life and death” raid, which gave the Panthers an advantage.

Jaipur took the lead from two minutes to halftime and went all out and reduced Gujarat’s lead to one point.

At the end of the first half, Gujarat led 19-17. They maintained their intensity in the second half and scored a full score at home.

Complete News Source : The Indian Express