Spirited Patna Pirates confirm Playoffs spot with comprehensive win against Jaipur Pink Panthers

In a convincing display, Patna Pirates confirmed their place in the top eight with a comprehensive 33-18 win against Jaipur Pink Panthers at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium in Delhi. Despite a slow start, Ayan Lohchab led the way with eleven points on the night – including two tackle points – to help his side qualify for the play-ins, which seemed improbable at one stage of the tournament.

The Pink Panthers came flying out of the blocks to take a four-point lead in the early exchanges. Meetu got the ball rolling with a couple of points, while Mohit and Sahil Deswal registered tackles. Ankit Jaglan responded for the Pirates, opening their account with a tackle. Milan Dahiya also contributed on both ends of the mat, keeping his team within striking distance despite Sahil Deswal’s second tackle.

In a watchful opening ten minutes, Ankit Rana bagged a successful Do-Or-Die Raid before Meetu and Ritik Sharma ensured that the Pink Panthers held a three-point lead. The Pirates got back on level terms with a Super Tackle and another tackle from Navdeep.

The narrow lead kept changing hands as Mohit gave the inaugural champions the lead before Deepak levelled things with a tackle again. Milan Dahiya’s successful Do-Or-Die Raid put the Pirates back in front, before a two-point raid from Vinay and a tackle from Deepanshu Khatri helped the Pink Panthers establish a 13-11 lead at halftime.

The tempo slowed down in the second half, with both teams resorting to the Do-Or-Die strategy. Meetu and Ankit Rana exchanged successful Do-or-Die Raids before Navdeep’s third tackle got Patna Pirates back on level terms. Nitin Rawal also registered his first tackle of the night, while Vinay and Ayan executed successful Do-Or-Die Raids to keep the two teams tied at 16-16 with ten minutes to play.

With the game seemingly going down to the wire, Ayan Lohchab eventually found his mojo as he registered his first points. His two-point raid enabled the Pirates to inflict an ALL OUT, giving them a six-point lead. They further extended that lead to eight points with five minutes to go in the match.

That put the Pirates in the driver’s seat for the remainder of the contest. Despite his slow start, Ayan made his mark on both ends of the mat, including a couple of tackles in the final stages of the game to inflict another ALL OUT. That put the result beyond all doubt, confirming Patna Pirates’ spot in the playoffs with a 33-18 win.

Please find below the schedule for the PKL Season 12 matches on Saturday, October 25:

Play-in 1: 5th-placed team vs 8th placed team

Play-in 2: 6th-placed team vs 7th placed team

Tickets are available on District by Zomato, the official ticketing platform for PKL Season 12: https://www.district.in/events/pkl-2025-delhi-team

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The Pro Kabaddi League Season 12 is being broadcast live on the Star Sports Network and streamed on JioHotstar from 7:30 pm onwards.