Jaipur, Puneri into Pro Kabaddi semi-finals with big victories

CHENNAI: Both Jaipur Pink Panthers and Puneri Paltan on Monday sealed Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 semi-finals spots with dominant wins in Hyderabad.

While table-topper Jaipur (79 points from 21 matches) ensured a top-two finish at the end of the league stage with a 44-30 victory over Haryana Steelers, the second-placed Puneri (79 points from 21 matches) did the same with a 44-30 win over Patna Pirates.

The team that benefitted without even playing on the night was Tamil Thalaivas. The fifth-placed Thalaivas, which has secured 61 points from 20 matches, needs only a point from its remaining two games to book a ticket to the play-offs.

In the Jaipur-Haryana match, V Ajith Kumar (13 raid points) and versatile defender Sahul Kumar (6 tackle points) led the charge for the team from the ‘Pink City’. Although Pink Panthers thrived in the first half, in which it inflicted an ‘All Out’, it could only manage a six-point (21-15) advantage at the half-time interval.

But, in the second period, Jaipur ran away with the contest with the help of a clean sweep as Haryana failed to earn even a solitary point from the match.

In the Puneri-Patna game, the Fazel Atrachali-led side dominated from the start and was ahead 19-10 during the change of ends. Paltan inflicted three ‘All Outs’, including two in the second half, as Pirates looked clueless for most of the match.

For Puneri that was without its lead raiders Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat, Akash Shinde (13 raid points) and Mohammad Nabibakhsh (9 points – 8 raid points and 1 tackle point) impressed.

RESULTS: Jaipur Pink Panthers 44 bt Haryana Steelers 30; Puneri Paltan 44 bt Patna Pirates 30