Hyderabad, (Samajweekly) The in-form Puneri Paltan bested a young and resilient Haryana Steelers to lift their first-ever Pro Kabaddi League trophy, becoming the sixth team ever to win the world’s biggest kabaddi league here on Friday.
In what was an exciting Finale which could have gone either way. a guided performance from the Puneri Paltan took them to the trophy with a 28-25 victory over the Steelers at the GMC Balayogi Stadium in Hyderabad on March 1.
Puneri Paltan joined the likes of Jaipur Pink Panthers (2 titles), Patna Pirates (3 titles), U Mumba, Dabang Delhi KC, Bengal Warriors and Bengaluru Bulls as the teams to win the Pro Kabaddi League title in its 10 seasons.
The defence of the Puneri Paltan gave their side an early lead after they got Haryana Steelers’ raiders, Shivam Patare and Vinay. However, Mohit Goyat was then tackled by Ankit to get the Steelers on the scoreboard in the final. This boosted their confidence as Rahul Sethpal led the charge with his defence to keep the clash interesting.
The PKL 10 grand finale was a closely fought encounter in the first half as the Haryana Steelers had an answer for every raid by Puneri Paltan. However, a moment of magic from Pankaj Mohite saw him complete a Super Raid worth four points as the Paltan contingent took a decisive lead.
Ashish’s successful raid in the final seconds for the Steelers meant that the score read 10-13 heading into the final 20 minutes of season 10. The only All-Out of the finale came off Mohit Goyat’s raiding, giving the Puneri Paltan a substantial lead at the start of the second half.
This did not deter the young Haryana Steelers’ side, as their raiders entered the action and grabbed as many bonus points as they could to get them close to Puneri Paltan. Pankaj Mohite was the game-changer for the Puneri Paltan in the summit clash as the resilience of the Haryana Steelers was met with brilliance to keep the fans on the edge of their seats.
Siddharth Desai got Puneri Paltan skipper Aslam Inamdar and star all-rounder Mohammadreza Shadloui to give his team hope but the Puneri Paltan lived up to their form to seal their maiden PKL trophy and prove their credentials of being the best team in Season 10.
