Dabang Delhi K.C. hand Gujarat Fortunegiants their first home loss

A dogged display from Dabang Delhi K.C.’s defence and a huge raid and tackle by Naveen Kumar in the final minute of the match handed the visitors an upset victory over Gujarat Fortunegiants by a scoreline of 29-26 at The Arena by TransStadia in Ahmedabad. This defeat ceased Gujarat Fortunegiants’ unbeaten run at nine in The Arena by TransStadia. 

Check out the photos from the match here.

The first half saw both teams displaying their menacing defensive skills, all kicked off by Joginder Singh Narwal’s powerful tackle on Sachin. With the score at 5-4 in Gujarat Fortunegiants’ favour, Naveen got his first touch point of the night and was then ably backed by the defence who scored three straight tackle points to reduce Gujarat Fortunegiants to just three men on the mat. With the Super Tackle on and Meraj Sheykh facing a Do-or-Die situation, Gujarat Fortunegiants’ defence successfully lured him deep into their half before Parvesh Bhainswal brought him down to score two points for his side. Bhainswal added two more tackle points to take his tally to four as the half that ended with Gujarat Fortunegiants leading 13-11. Dong Geon Lee managed to get three raid points in the half, the most by any raider from either side.

Dabang Delhi K.C. opened the second half with purpose and soon levelled the score at 16-16, courtesy of some more good work from raider Pawan Kumar Kadian and Sheykh who combined to three raid points in that run. With the Super Tackle on, Sachin managed to stop Sheykh in his tracks to earn himself and his team two more points. But Dabang Delhi K.C.’s defence kept things tight at their end, scoring two more tackle points to cut short any attempt from the home team to pull away on the scoreboard.

Dabang Delhi K.C. finally punched in the hammer blow as Sheykh, first with his persistence, pushed Bhainswal out of bounds before fighting his way through Hadi Oshtorak and Rohit Gulia to inflict an All-Out and earn his side five points and ascend them into a 23-20 lead. Dabang Delhi K.C. managed to maintain their three-point lead for close to five minutes before Mahendra Rajput’s touch point, followed by Bhainswal’s tackle and Sachin’s successful raid levelled the score at 26-26, leaving the visitors with only three men on the mat.

Visit the matchcentre to relive the contest here.

In the final minute, Dabang Delhi K.C. saw themselves facing a Do-or-Die situation against a seven-man defence. The visitors needed someone to step up and it was Naveen Kumar who went in and managed to pinch off a bonus point to give his side the lead. Naveen followed that up with a game-winning Super Tackle on Sachin right as the clock expired to give his side a huge victory and end Gujarat Fortunegiants’ unbeaten home run. 

Top performers

Dabang Delhi K.C.

Best Raider – Meraj Sheykh (6 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Ravinder Pahal (4 Tackle Points)

Gujarat Fortunegiants

Best Raider – Sachin (7 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Parvesh Bhainswal (6 Tackle Points)