Jaipur Pink Panthers halt Naveen Express’ Super 10 streak and hand Dabang Delhi their first loss of the season

An engaging, back-and-forth affair finished with Jaipur Pink Panthers beating Dabang Delhi K.C. 30-28. This was Delhi’s first loss of the season. Deepak Hooda had a day to remember, as he not only led his team to victory with nine points but also eclipsed 900 raid points in vivo Pro Kabaddi. Naveen Kumar scored his 600^th raid point in this game, becoming only the ninth player in league history to achieve the feat. However, he finished the game with only seven points, ending his incredible streak of consecutive Super 10s at 28.

Delhi were in the ascendancy early and took a 6-2 lead, with Naveen responsible for three of those. The Pink Panthers rallied back with five unanswered points courtesy of two raid points from Deshwal, a Super Tackle from Sahul and another tackle point from Sandeep Dhull to take the lead.

Sandeep Narwal brought parity to the scoreline with a tackle on Arjun Deshwal, and then Vishal helped Delhi reclaim the lead with a two-point raid. The lead barely lasted a minute as Pink Panthers skipper Deepak Hooda responded with a two-point raid of his own to level the score. Both teams added another point to their total and went into halftime with the scoreboard reading 12-12.

Manjeet Chhillar’s strong Ankle Hold on Amirhossein Mohammad, and a touch point from Naveen reduced the Pink Panthers to just two men on the mat. In his subsequent raid, Naveen tagged both defenders before making his way across the midline to inflict the game’s first All Out and help Delhi take a 19-14 lead.

The Pink Panthers responded to the setback in a tremendous fashion. Deepak Hooda and Sahul Kumar combined to add five points to their team’s total in just four minutes, and Deshwal then scored his seventh raid point of the night, a touch on Sandeep, to bring parity to the scoreline and leave Delhi with just two players on the mat.

With his team reeling, raider Ashu Malik stepped up and added four unanswered points to his team’s total with a two-point raid and a Super Tackle on Deshwal in quick succession. But the Pink Panthers did not relent and responded with three unanswered points, courtesy of Sahul’s eighth tackle point of the night and a two-point raid from Hooda, which reduced Delhi to a solitary man.

Malik picked a bonus but was promptly pinned down by Pink Panthers’ defence, which inflicted an All Out on Delhi and gave Jaipur the lead. Hooda and Sandeep Dhull added another couple of points to their team’s total to push their lead up to three with just over a minute left in the game.

Ashu Malik cut Delhi’s deficit to two with a touch point but was tackled by Dhull in his subsequent raid, which ended his team’s hopes of a comeback. Manjeet Chhillar dashed Hooda out of bounds in the final raid of the game, but that tackle point didn’t affect the game’s result, as the Pink Panthers emerged victorious. 

Top Performers

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Best Raider – Deepak Hooda (9 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Sahul Kumar (8 Tackle Points)

Dabang Delhi K.C.

Best Raider – Naveen Kumar (7 Raid Points)

Best Defender – Manjeet Chhillar (4 Tackle Points)