Puneri Paltan out of all options as they drop their penultimate fixture against Bengal Warriors

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Maninder Singh attempts to reach the midline against Puneri Paltan

Puneri Paltan took on the challenge of the defending champion Bengal Warriors in the penultimate match of their campaign in ‘Match 127’ of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8.

This was a do-or-die game for the Pune-based franchise as a win over the Warriors would have ensured their survival in the race for the playoffs. The Paltan has only one game left against the Jaipur Pink Panthers this Saturday and will have to win by a margin of 28 points and then hope that either of Gujarat Giants or Haryana Steelers lose their remaining games to make it into the playoffs. With so many calculations in consideration, the campaign is next to over for the Paltan this season.

On the other hand, the Bengal Warriors will be somewhat happy with how they were able to exit the league on a positive note. While the defending champions will be disappointed with their early exit as they failed to even qualify for the knockouts this season, they won their final two fixtures to end the season on a high. Despite not receiving success as a franchise, it has been a great season for skipper Maninder Singh who is currently the joint top scorer in the list of top raiders alongside Pawan Sehrawat with 274 points to their names.

Maninder was the top scorer for the Bengal-based franchise tonight as well, with the raider picking up 12 points to his name. While he did spend some of his time on the sidelines waiting for his revival, his teammates were right on support as veteran Sukesh Hegde and all-rounder Rohit has seven points each against their tally and helped their team edge past the Puneri Paltan.

The defense was a little off-color tonight with just Abozar Mighani and Amit Narwal leaving a remarkable impact on the game. The duo together scored seven out of the nine tackle points scored by their franchise tonight and played a keep role in keeping the Puneri Paltan side under check.

On the other hand, Pune will be utterly disheartened on how the night turned out for their side as they bottled their 10-point advantage heading into the second half and were unable to maintain the pace, which led to their loss against the Bengal-based franchise. 

Mohit Goyat who was the top scorer of the game picked up a total of 15 points to his name but was unable to help his team past the finish line. Aslam Inamdar who has been great for the team all season was unable to help his team get past the opponents and had just four points to his name and got tackled four times which was one of the key reasons for Pune’s defeat.

Mohit Goyat executes a perfect ankle hold on Mohammad Nabibaksh

Mohit Goyat executes a perfect ankle hold on Mohammad Nabibaksh

Puneri Paltan side the match off with a bang with all eyes on the win as Vishal Bhardwaj opened up the tally with a perfect ankle hold on Maninder on the very first raid. His team quickly capitalized on the momentum with Aslam scoring a quick touchpoint in the following raid, Mohit banked on the man advantage to produce an absolutely stunning Super raid in a Super tackle situation to earn five points for his side inflicting the first all-out upon the Bengal-based franchise within the first four minutes of the game to gain a nine-point advantage leading 1-10 with just five minutes of play in progress.

Maninder tried to facilitate a comeback for his side in the next fifteen minutes with a couple of points in offense to his name but was tackled twice for his efforts as the Pune-based franchise were all over their opponents and did not leave any room for mistakes. 

Aslam turned things worse for the defending champions as he produced a stunning jump over Ran Singh to put his opponents in a precarious position. The Paltan had the game in their grasp with a 10-point advantage leading 10-20 heading into the second half, with the Warriors reduced to just three players on the mat.

Pune tried to inflict the second all-out of the game upon their opponents but the Warriors were persistent as Rohit picked up a bonus plus touchpoint to gain a crucial revival for his team who were down to one man in the first two minutes of the final half. However, it was Maninder who completely took the game away from the Pune-based franchise scoring a total of seven points in three consecutive raids completing his sixteenth Super 10 of the season in the process.

Pune tried to resist the all-out looming over their head as they executed two perfect super tackles on Maninder and Rohit to keep their side in the lead but the Warriors quickly fired back with tackle points of their own to keep the man advantage in their favor.

Bengal quickly built on the momentum and took no time to return the favor from the first half inflicting the first all-out upon their opponents with just five minutes remaining in the game, as they look the lead in the game for the very first time with the scoreline 31-30 in their favor.

Before Pune could even recover from the first all-out the Warriors were all over them in the remaining five minutes of the contest and closed the chapter for their opponents with yet another all-out! The Pune-based side tried their best but with just one minute left in the game, it was all over for the franchise as the Warriors were able to botch their chances to make it into the playoffs with a 43-36 win against their tally.

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