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The Pro Kabaddi League 2018 carnival has reached a new destination as the Ahmedabad leg of the competition kicked off tonight at The Arena by Transstadia in Gujarat. The home side Gujarat Fortunegiants opened their home leg against the Bengal Warriors in the first match of the night.
The Bengal Warriors came into this match on the back of a big loss against the Patna Pirates in Mumbai and wanted to brush off the effects and start off fresh. The team has seen their raiding unit be a one-man show with Maninder Singh scoring the bulk of the points for the side on the mat. He hoped for better support from his fellow raiders as he continued to perform consistently.
The defence has looked comparatively better in the past couple of matches. Surjeet Singh has been the leader in the defensive lineup and youngsters Adarsh T and Baldev Singh have done well with their chances to form a good corner combination. The experienced all-rounder Ran Singh has taken up the mantle of raiding as well this season and has done his bit to help out the raiding unit. The team had their task cut out taking on the Gujarat Fortunegiants on their home turf.
Gujarat Fortunegiants have been the most in-form team in the league this season, winning their past six matches in a row and were in high spirits at the start of their home leg fixtures. The raiding unit has been spearheaded by the youngster Sachin Tanwar and he has been ably supported by the likes of Mahendra Ganesh Rajput, K Prapanjan, Rohit Gulia and the Korean raider Dong Geon Lee.
The coach Manpreet Singh has continued to rotate and trust his young squad and it has paid dividends. The young skipper Sunil Kumar has been the main man in defence for them, combining well with Parvesh Bhainswal in the cover position. The corner combination of Ruturaj Koravi and Sachin Vittala have also done well for them with their tackles. They hoped to get off on a bright note in the first fixture of their home leg.
The home side Gujarat Fortunegiants started off their home leg with a win as they beat the Bengal Warriors 35-23 in a strong all-around performance.
Here are the Player Ratings from this clash:
Gujarat Fortunegiants
Sunil Kumar - (4/10)
The Gujarat Fortunegiants skipper was a strong presence in the backline, combining well with Parvesh Bhainswal and picked up two tackle points.
Parvesh Bhainswal - (6/10)
The cover defender fell shy of a High-5 tonight but had a solid game, putting in strong tackles with his double thigh holds and played well alongside Sunil Kumar.
Ruturaj Koravi - (2/10)
The left corner defender picked up a sole tackle point but chipped in well with his assists with the dashes.
Sachin Vittala - (4/10)
The other corner defender of the Gujarat side was only active with his assists and picked up a couple of tackle points in the process.
Ajay Kumar - (6/10)
The raider was given a start tonight and delivered for the coach, picking up five raid points and had one tackle point as well.
Dong Geon Lee - (3/10)
The Korean raider had a quiet night tonight with a lot of empty raids and finished with three raid points to his name.
K Prapanjan - (7.5/10)
The lanky Prapanjan was the main raider for the Gujarat side tonight and had a stellar match with nine points, falling just shy of a Super-10.
Bengal Warriors
Surjeet Singh - (4/10)
The Bengal Warriors skipper had a poor night compared to his usual standards as he made a few uncharacteristic mistakes. He got one Super Tackle to his name when he combined with Ran Singh to take down Dong Geon Lee.
Adarsh T - (4/10)
The young left corner defender was successful in the first half of the match with a Super Tackle attempt. However, he didn't manage to add to his tally in the second half.
Baldev Singh - (3/10)
The right corner leaked a couple of easy mistakes in the first half and did not pick up any tackle point. He was replaced soon by Shrikant Tewthia in the backline but made a return for the final eight minutes.
Ziaur Rehman - (2/10)
The cover defender from Bangladesh got a great tackle point in the first half but made a couple of mistakes as well. He was replaced towards the end of the first half.
Maninder Singh - (7/10)
The star raider had a good first half of the match, scoring six raid points including a couple of them in do-or-die raid situations. He did not have any success in the second half, having got tackled on multiple occasions.
Ran Singh - (3/10)
The all-rounder had a tough time to get going tonight as he was unable to contribute much in both raiding as well as the defence. However, he did help in the Super Tackle for Surjeet Singh.
Jang Kun Lee - (5/10)
The Korean raider played as the second raider along with Maninder Singh and picked up three points in the first half but was tackled three times.
Substitutes:
Amaresh Mondal - (3/10)
The youngster came on in the first half when Bengal were down in numbers and helped in a Super tackle success.
Shrikant Tewthia - (2/10)
The all-rounder came off the bench and picked up one raid point but had a few mistakes in defence as well.
Rakesh Narwal - (2/10)
The raider came on in the second half of the match replacing Ziaur Rehman and went in for many raids but did not have any success tonight.
