Gujarat Fortunegiants edge out Dabang Delhi K.C. despite Naveen Kumar’s heroics

Gujarat Fortunegiants kept their winning start to VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 7 going with a 31-26 win over Dabang Delhi K. C. at the Dome, NSCI, SVP Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. It was another all-round team performance by Gujarat Fortunegiants which handed Dabang Delhi K. C. their first loss of the campaign.

Gujarat Fortunegiants began positively and opened up a 3-0 lead early on, while Dabang Delhi K. C. got their first point of the game after a successful tackle in a Do-or-Die situation. The two-time finalists tried to build on their lead as the half progressed and even led 6-1 at one stage. But a successful raid by Naveen Kumar and successful tackles by Ravinder Pahal and Saeid Ghaffari saw Dabang Delhi K.C. cut the deficit to 6-4 heading into the final 10 minutes of the first half.

The majority of the next 10 minutes followed a similar pattern, with Gujarat Fortunegiants maintaining a narrow lead. However, towards the end of the first period, four points from three consecutive raids by Dabang Delhi K.C.’s Naveen Kumar reduced Gujarat Fortunegiants to just one player on the mat. A subsequent All-Out followed and allowed Dabang Delhi K.C. to leapfrog their opponents to take a 12-10 lead in the game. Chandran Ranjit then got in on the action with a two-point raid to help Dabang Delhi K.C. extend their lead to 14-11 going into the break. 

Gujarat Fortunegiants began the second half with intent and their positive approach worked as they wiped away Dabang Delhi K.C.’s lead after just five minutes. Naveen Kumar, though, continued to be a menace for Gujarat Fortunegiants’ defence and reestablished Dabang Delhi K.C.’s lead with another 2-point raid.

All-rounder Rohit Gulia, however, responded with a two-point raid of his own to help Gujarat Fortunegiants wrestle back the lead from Dabang Delhi K.C.. From there on, Gujarat Fortunegiants looked to be on the ascendancy and reduced Dabang Delhi K.C. to just two men on the mat.

A Super Tackle by Ranjit did stave off a first All-Out of the night on Dabang Delhi K.C. momentarily, but it merely delayed the inevitable as Gujarat Fortunegiants took a 25-20 lead after enforcing the All-Out with a little over six minutes left on the clock.

Dabang Delhi K.C. did try to conjure a late comeback with Naveen Kumar, in particular, trying his best. That said, a two-point raid for Gujarat Fortunegiants by Sachin Tanwar with two-and-a-half minutes left put the game to bed and condemned Dabang Delhi K.C. to their first loss of the season. 

Top Performers:

Gujarat Fortunegiants –

Best Raider – Rohit Gulia (7 Raid Points)

Best Defender – More G B (4 Tackle Points)

Dabang Delhi K.C. –

Best Raider – Naveen Kumar (10 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Chandran Ranjit (2 Tackle Points)