Gujarat Fortunegiants handed Jaipur Pink Panthers their first home loss as they won by a 34-29 margin at the Tau Devilal Sports Complex, Panchkula on Sunday. Ruturaj Koravi led the Gujarat Fortunegiants defence with a High 5 in the game while Jaipur Pink Panthers captain Deepak Niwas Hooda was the most successful raider in the game with 8 raid points to his name.

Sandeep Dhull’s Ankle Hold on Sachin started things off well for Jaipur Pink Panthers but that was the only point they scored in the first six minutes as K. Prapanjan’s raid revived Sachin and he escaped Dhull’s next Ankle Hold to give Gujarat Fortunegiants a 3-1 lead in the match.

Check out the photos from the match here.

Reduced to three men on the mat with Dong Geon Lee coming in to raid, Jaipur Pink Panthers struck back in the game through a Super Tackle to reduce Gujarat Fortunegiants’ advantage to just one point. Sachin’s touch point, though, reduced Jaipur Pink Panthers down to three men on the mat again and this time they capitalised by inflicting the All-Out in the 9th minute to increase their lead to seven points.

Jaipur Pink Panthers had to face a tough task against Gujarat Fortunegiants’ defence after that but finally managed to break through with Ajinkya Pawar’s 2-point raid in the 12th minute. However, on the other end, Sachin managed a Super Raid in the next minute itself. With a little more than five minutes left in the first half, it was Lee’s turn to get in the game as he put in another Super Raid for Gujarat Fortunegiants to give them a 16-7 lead.

Prapanjan then stepped into the lobby without a touch to reduce Jaipur Pink Panthers’ deficit to 8 points and it remained there going into halftime as the visitors led 18-10 in the first half. Sachin was the most successful raider in the half with six raid points, three raid points ahead of Jaipur Pink Panthers’ top raider Ajinkya Pawar.

Gujarat Fortunegiants played on their defence in the second half and succeeded in picking up Ajit Singh. However, Hooda evaded Sachin Kumar and Parvesh Bhainswal’s combined Dash effort to reduce Gujarat Fortunegiants to two men on the mat. After picking up a bonus point, Rohit Gulia combined with Koravi to inflict a Super Tackle on Hooda.

The All-Out, however, finally came in the 8th minute as Gulia was stopped in his tracks by Dhull to help the home team close the gap on Gujarat Fortunegiants to just five points. Captain Sunil Kumar helped Gujarat Fortunegiants start things off on the front foot once they reassembled with a strong Block and they held on to that momentum to reduce Jaipur Pink Panthers down to just three men on the mat with an eight-point lead in the match.

Visit the matchcentre to relive the contest here.

It was Jaipur Pink Panthers captain Hooda then who took up the responsibility of leading his side back in the contest with a Super Raid in the 14th minute. But once he was sent to the bench, another All-Out looked in sight for the visitors.  Jaipur Pink Panthers then played on their defence and pulled off a Super Tackle on Sachin which made it a 4-point-game with just over a minute left to play. The last raid of the match saw a defender going out of bounds for Jaipur Pink Panthers as Gujarat Fortunegiants handed them their first loss at home.

Top Performers –

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Best Raider: Deepak Niwas Hooda (8 raid points)

Best Defender: Sandeep Dhull (3 tackle points)

Gujarat Fortunegiants

Best Raider: Sachin (7 raid points)

Best Defender: Ruturaj Koravi (5 tackle points)