A terrific effort from raiding duo 'Record-Breaker' Pardeep Narwal and Jang Kun Lee helped Patna Pirates upstage Jaipur Pink Panthers by a scoreline of 36-33 at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium in Kolkata on Thursday. At the post-match press conference, coach Ram Mehar Singh, raider Jang Kun Lee and skipper Pardeep Narwal took questions for Patna Pirates, while Jaipur Pink Panthers were represented by coach Srinivas Reddy and captain Deepak Niwas Hooda.

Patna Pirates

Patna Pirates skipper Pardeep Narwal, coach Ram Mehar Singh and raider Jang Kun Lee at the post-match press conference.

Q. What are your thoughts on the win?

Ram Mehar Singh: The lack of a second raider will hurt any team. In the close matches that we lost, I felt that the presence of someone as experienced as Jang Kun Lee would have made a difference for us. And today he proved that. Every time we needed points, Lee came through for us today.

Q. Do you feel the presence of Lee gives your team a psychological advantage?

Ram Mehar Singh: When Pardeep (Narwal) knows that Lee is on the mat and if he is tackled, there’s someone who can revive him quickly, it helps him raid without any pressure. So today we did not feel that we lacked a raider, like we did in the past few matches.

Q. What are your thoughts on the upcoming matches?

Ram Mehar Singh: The raiders were excellent and I hope they can continue in the same vein. Pardeep is obviously a star, but Lee is an experienced campaigner. He’s been in the league since its inception and he’s represented his country in many international tournaments. So having a player like that is obviously a huge advantage. The defence needs to perform better. We had them pegged down to a sole man or two at least five to six times but ended up giving away multiple points. That is an area we need to address.

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Jaipur Pink Panthers coach Srinivas Reddy and skipper Deepak Niwas Hooda at the post-match press conference.

Q. What is your verdict on the match?

Srinivas Reddy: In some crucial moments, our defence made a couple of errors. And that cost us the game.

Q. Was there a strategy against Pardeep Narwal?

Srinivas Reddy: We had planned to hold a deep line against him to lure him in but some of our defenders weren’t able to execute that plan and gave away multi-points raids.

Q. Did Jang Kun Lee's performance surprise you?

Srinivas Reddy: Not really. He’s a veteran in this league. He is one of the most successful players as well. So we definitely weren’t surprised by how well he played.

Q. How do look ahead to yout next match?

Srinivas Reddy: We have to win in order to qualify. Victory is imperative. We'll see how it goes.