Jaipur Pink Panthers return to winning ways after win against Dabang Delhi K.C.

Jaipur Pink Panthers held off a late resurgence from Dabang Delhi K.C. to win 45-40 at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi in Pune on Friday. The Panthers' Arjun Deshwal was at the forefront of their victory grabbing 16 points, while veteran raider Rahul Chaudhari scored 6 points that took him to 1000 raid points in vivo Pro Kabaddi.

Arjun Deshwal ran rampant and was instrumental in inflicting the first All-Out of the game with a Super Raid that caught out Ashu Malik, Ravi Kumar and Manjeet. At the other end of the mat, the Panthers’ defence also held strong and ensured Naveen Kumar didn't get too many freebies on his raids.

With the Panthers storming into a massive lead, it took brave defending from Dabang Delhi K.C. to rally together. Vishal's Super Tackle on Rahul Chaudhari helped them prevent a second All-Out, and not long after Ashu Malik and Vishal came together to do the trick again and reduce the margin to 19-15.

However, the Panthers inflicted a second All-Out in the last few minutes of the first half to extend their lead to 26-18. They went into the break leading 28-19.

The Panthers did not let up one bit in the second half with Rahul Chaudhari rolling through the Dabang Delhi K.C. defence while his own team's defence was brilliant on the mat. Their ability to restrict Naveen Kumar was key to their game plan as they inflicted another All-Out in the second half to surge into a huge lead.

With two minutes left though, Naveen came into his own as his Super Raid caught out Abhishek KS, Rahul Chaudhari and Sunil Kumar to reduce the Panthers to just one player on the mat. On the very next raid, Dabang Delhi K.C. inflicted an All-Out of their own to reduce the lead to eight points. In the end, Dabang Delhi K.C. had left it too late, crashing to their sixth straight defeat as the Panthers got the win and ended their losing streak.

Top Performers

Dabang Delhi K.C.

Best Raider - Ashu Malik (13 Raid Points)

Best Defender - Vishal (3 Tackle Points)

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Best Raider - Arjun Deshwal (16 Raid Points)

Best Defender - Ankush (4 Tackle Points)

Where to watch vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 9 LIVE?

Catch all the LIVE action from vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 9 on the Star Sports Network and LIVE streaming on Disney+Hotstar.