Puneri Paltan got their second draw in a row at home, this time against Jaipur Pink Panthers. Manjeet Chhillar delivered a perfect all-round performance by scoring 7 tackle points and 6 raid points while Ajay Thakur scored 11 points as both teams shared the spoils in a 32-32 draw. On the other hand, Rajesh Narwal and Sonu Narwal amassed 7 points each.
Ajay Thakur opened the scoring in Puneri Paltan’s first raid and Satish Kumar was tackled as the home team led 2-0 after 2 minutes. Rajesh Narwal delivered back to back super raids and in the process inflicted an all out on the home team in the 5th minute as the scorecard read Puneri Paltan 3-9 Jaipur Pink Panthers.
In the 8th minute, it was Sonu Narwal’s turn to conjure a super raid, but Ajay Thakur revived a teammate by returning successfully from his raid. Trailing by 11 points, Puneri Paltan captain Manjeet Chhillar got his team back in the game with a super raid in the 15th minute. Sonu restored his team’s lead 10-point lead with 2 points in a do-or-die raid. Not to be done by the Pink Panthers, Ajay got a couple of points for the Paltan in his do-or-die raid.
The buzzer raid of the half saw Rajesh Narwal tackled by Manjeet as the Paltan completed an all out of their own on the visitors. With this, the home team had reduced their deficit to just 3 points at the halfway mark.
HT: Puneri Paltan 18-21 Jaipur Pink Panthes
After Sonu won a point for his team, Manjeet showed his quality by scoring a point in his raid, while tackling the former with a double ankle hold in the 23rd minute. The next few minutes saw both teams exchanging blows before Ajay Thakur levelled the score at 27 with his second consecutive successful raid in the 31st minute.
In the very next minute, however, Ran Singh returned from his raid with 3 points – the 5th super raid of the match. Ajay maintained his stellar form and continued amassing points for the home team. Parity was restored after former Jaipur Pink Panthers defender Prashant Chavan tackled Rajesh Narwal in the 37th minute.
Both the teams won a point each in the final stage of the match as the Pune crowd witnessed yet another draw. Both teams are in action tomorrow as the home team take on defending champions U Mumba after Jaipur lock horns with Telugu Titans
FT: Puneri Paltan 32-32 Jaipur Pink Panthers
