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On a night when they had the opportunity to stamp their authority, Gujarat Fortunegiants produced a ruthless performance and registered a 33-29 victory over Patna Pirates in Sunday's Pro Kabaddi League encounter.
Gujarat managed to score a massive 15 tackle points. And by successfully keeping Pardeep Narwal in check, they ensured the Pirates were never able to build any kind of momentum; Patna's star man could score only 4 raid points.
Pirates coach Ram Mehar Singh seemed surprised with his side's loss to Gujarat. He believed that Patna could win this tie easily, but what transpired was far from his expectations. Gujarat's defenders hounded Patna's raiders from the get go.
"Wining and losing is part and parcel of the game. We were weak in the raiding department tonight. We thought we would win this match easily. I had tremendous confidence in the raiders but we kept making the same mistakes," he said.
Though Patna did lose the match, Mehar was satisfied with the kind of effort his players put in. Usually critical of his team, this time he was more complimentary and said the fans got to witness a great game in Jaipur.
"Pardeep too made some mistakes; these things happen. Overall it was a good game, there are more games left to play. It's possible that we can face Gujarat Fortunegaints once again, we will see what happens then," he stated.
Mehar also said Gujarat depend on Fazel Atrachali and Abozar Mighani a lot. He reckons the Iranian duo have played a huge role in Gujarat's success this season.
"Gujarat have good raiders but their Iranian corners are great. The team depends a lot on them. Their main strength is their defense."
Mehar shrugged off suggestions that Patna's team aren't as fit as Gujarat. He believes the Fortunegiants are not invincible, citing examples of teams that managed to get the better of them this season.
"Haryana Steelers have beaten Gujarat and Tamil Thalaivas have beaten them as well. This despite the fact that they (Tamil Thalaivas) are currently at the bottom of their points table. We lost because Gujarat was solely focused on Pardeep," he said.
Speaking about Narwal's performance, the coach defended his star man, suggesting that every player is bound to experience tought nights like these. Narwal found it extremely tough to cut open Gujarat's defense.
"Pardeep didn't play the first season and during the second season he hardly played. Taking into account season 2,3, 4 and this one, just because he didn't perform tonight, you cannot judge him. He has always been the best," he signed off.
