Clinical Jaipur Pink Panthers claim crucial 44-28 win over U Mumba improving playoff qualification chances
In another crucial encounter of the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League Season 8, Jaipur Pink Panthers defeated U Mumba by an impressive 16-point difference. The 44-28 win for Jaipur was all the more special as one of their key players, Deepak Niwas Hooda, did not appear in this match.
What fashioned this victory was another superlative effort from Arjun Deshwal, who scored 17 points, and a defiant defensive unit. Courtesy of this performance, the Pink Panthers have jumped from the ninth to sixth spot in the current standings.
In addition to this, due to the big margin of this victory, the Pink Panthers have wiped off the negative point difference that plagued them before the match. This could prove very crucial in an extremely tight race to qualify for the playoffs.
Despite what the scoreline may suggest, the match was in the balance for the majority of the contest. For the most part of the second half, the Jaipur Pink Panthers were facing the danger of an all-out. With close to 10 minutes remaining in the match, two successive super tackles moved the match decisively in favor of the side in pink.
The first big impact on the match was made by V Ajith Kumar when he pulled off a four-point raid in the fourth minute. Still, Jaipur kept themselves ahead in the game with many successful tackles.
Jaipur Pink Panthers’ raider tries to escape the clutch of U Mumba players
On the other hand, U Mumba had to wait till the 19th minute of the first half for their first tackle point. Abhishek also found the going tough and his first touchpoint came in the ninth minute of the match.
For Jaipur, Brijendra Singh was a surprise package as he managed two successful tackles early on to set the tone of the match. The Mumbai outfit conceded an all-out in the 15th minute and was trailing 9-15 at that stage. The situation improved a little by the end of the first half as the scoreboard read 14-17.
After the break, Brijendra showed his prowess as a raider and registered a three-point super raid to increase his team’s lead to 21-17. Mumbai then registered a brief recovery by pulling off two successful tackles and had Ajith, their best raider in this match, reduce the Pink Panthers down to just one man.
Now was the opportunity for Fazel’s team to drive home their advantage. But the defiance shown by Jaipur was stunning as Brijendra swung into action again and saved the all-out with a successful raid of his own. With two players on the mat now, Abhishek Singh sought to pull off an all-out. But a brilliant tackle by Nitin Rawal undid him. Another super tackle came on Mumbai’s next raid as Ajith was eliminated by three players.
Suddenly, the danger of all-out was averted for Jaipur but only temporarily. Jaipur was down to just two men on the mat again a little later due to some good tackles by Mumba’s defense and some points in the raiding department by Abhishek and Ajith.
But once again, Mumbai failed to seize the moment. Arjun Deshwal’s three-point raid turned the tide and soon, the Pink Panthers were leading by 32-24. There was no coming back for U Mumba after this. They suffered their second all-out of the match in the penultimate minute of the game and the score reached 36-27.
The victory was certain for the Pink Panthers but they needed a bigger margin to wipe off their overall point deficit. This was accomplished in the last minute with a five-point raid by Arjun Deshwal.
Ajith was the lone shining light for U Mumba with 11 points. Down at number nine in the points table, U Mumba will have to win their remaining encounters and depend on other results to stand a chance of qualifying.