The Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi is ready for the final day of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi Season 3, and what a finale it promises to be! After 34 days of frenetic action spread over 8 cities, it all comes down to 5 March where the champion of the third edition will be decided.
U Mumba, who topped the league table, cruised comfortably into the final, where they will meet the high-flying Patna Pirates. But before that high-stakes battle, the losing semi-finalists Bengal Warriors and Puneri Paltan will face off in the 3rd place playoff to decide who rounds up the podium.
3rd place playoff: Puneri Paltan vs Bengal Warriors
The first match on Saturday will witness the semi-final debutants Puneri Paltan and Bengal Warriors locking horns yet again. The Paltan suffered a crushing 21-40 loss at the hands of the Pirates in the first semi-final, but they will be looking to pick themselves up from that setback and end the campaign with a win. Manjeet Chhillar and Ajay Thakur had a rare off-day in the semi-final, but they will be raring to go against the Warriors.
On the other hand, after a poor first half, the Warriors had U Mumba on the ropes in the second half in the second semifinal. But they left it a little too late as they crashed out of the running with a 29-41 loss.
Nitin Tomar, who scored 8 points against the defending champions, will carry the Warriors' hopes in the third place match whereas Nilesh Shinde will be hoping to come good on the final day. The team will require Bajirao Hodage and Jang Kun Lee to be at their best too as they aim to gun down Puneri Paltan for the second time this season.
The match is sure to be a cracker as both teams are in unchartered territory, having never played post the league stage earlier. They will be looking to erase the memories of a poor semi-final stage by coming up on top in their last match of Season 3.
The 3rd place playoff will begin at 7.50 pm.
Final: U Mumba vs Patna Pirates
It is safe to say that U Mumba and Patna Pirates have been the two best teams this season, and they thoroughly deserve their spots in the final. Having finished in the top 2 places in the league stage, the defending champions and the men in green will play for the title in front of a packed Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
U Mumba are known to up their game in the crunch stages and they did just that by beating Bengal Warriors in the semi-final. Rishank Devadiga and Mohit Chhillar have been in tremendous form and played a significant role in getting the team to their third consecutive final.
Captain Anup Kumar has delivered the goods whenever the chips are down while the tackles of Rakesh Kumar and Fazel Atrachali have floored almost every raider. The defending champions are on an 11-match winning run and are looking nearly invincible. However, their last loss came at the hands of their opponents in the final, Patna Pirates.
If people thought Patna Pirates peaked too early after their loss to Telugu Titans in their last league match, it didn't take long for Sanjiv Kumar Baliyan’s men to shut the critics up. The Pirates delivered the goods by ending their semi-final jinx, destroying Puneri Paltan to qualify for their first final.
This season, Patna look like a completely different side under the captaincy of the calm Manpreet Singh. Rohit Kumar and Pardeep Narwal have been in devastating form while Sandeep Narwal has led the defence for the Pirates admirably. Patna will be looking to replicate their performance in Bengaluru where the men in green handed the defending champions a massive 40-26 loss!
With a 1-1 head to head record this season and the final at a neutral venue, the final is evenly matched. Experienced campaigner Anup Kumar will know that the top spot will count for nothing if they fail at the ultimate stage. On the other end, Sanjiv Kumar Baliyan will have to come up with the perfect tactics to ensure that the most entertaining team of the season defeats the most solid one.
One thing’s for sure: whichever team lifts the coveted title at the end of the day, will etch its name in the annals of kabaddi history forever.
The final will begin at 9 pm.
