Delhi clinches maiden PKL title

Dabang Delhi clinched its maiden Pro Kabaddi League title by edging out Patna Pirates 37-36 in a thrilling Season 8 final at the Sheraton Grand Hotel here on Friday.

Delhi became the sixth team to bag the coveted PKL trophy while three-time title-winner Patna lost a decider for the first time. All-rounder Vijay (14 points – 13 raid points and 1 tackle point) and Naveen Kumar (13 raid points) earned championship-winning ‘Super 10s’ against a Pirates defence that buckled under pressure.

The summit clash was off to an intense start, with both sets of raiders picking up points. Left-corner defender Mohammadreza Shadlu Chiyaneh bagged the first tackle point on the night for Patna, which inflicted an ‘All-Out’ in the 11th minute. PP held a four-point advantage after the clean sweep, but DD reduced the deficit to two (15-17) at half-time.

Naveen and Sachin (10 points – 9 raid points and 1 tackle point) opened the final period with a successful raid for Delhi and Patna respectively. Delhi inched closer to inflicting an ‘All-Out’ in the early stages of the second half, but Pirates’ Guman Singh (9 raid points) delivered a two-point raid to delay the clean sweep.

Just when it looked like the balance was shifting back towards Patna, Delhi’s Vijay produced a fantastic three-point raid to level the score (24-24). DD eventually inflicted its first ‘All-Out’ with six minutes remaining on the clock, and took a two-point lead.

Vijay followed up his ‘Super Raid’ with a two-point effort to further tilt the match in Delhi’s favour. Patna, which made a tactical error with regards to substitutions at the end, conceded another ‘Super Raid’ to make matters worse. Shadlu turned into a raider in the last few minutes, bagging two points, but Naveen kept his calm to clinch victory.

Result: Dabang Delhi 37 bt Patna Pirates 36