Jaipur, February 21: Manjeet Chhillar yet again fashioned another win for his team Puneri Paltan in the Season 3 of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here today.
They beat hosts Jaipur Pink Panthers with consummate ease by 33-18 to get into the top four with 32 points in 10 matches. Jaipur Pink Panthers, on the other hand, remain on 25 in 10 matches in sixth place.
The well-built Manjeet Chhillar skipper and all-rounder who completed a creditable triple ton of points in the league came up with four crunching tackles in the second half after his mate in defense, Surjeet, had warded off the threat of the Jaipur Pink Panthers raider Sonu Narwal in the first half to finish with eight tackle points for the match.
It was the Puneri Paltan’s defence that played the decisive role in the match for once. This is a good omen for the team from the sugar belt of Maharashtra as they now seem to have got the right combination.
Besides Surjeet and Manjeet Chhillar, Jasmer Singh Gulia also played a good role in negating attackers of the Jaipur Pink Panthers team.
Jaipur Pink Panthers were very much in the match in the initial stages. They had managed to tie the score at 5-5 only to see their opponents canter away to register the first of the two all outs in the 17th minute of play.
A series of successful tackles by Surjeet resulted in the Jaipur Pink Panthers lead raiders Sonu Narwal, Jasvir Singh, and Rajesh Narwal going to the bench. Substitute Iranian player Mohammad Maghsoudlou failed to avert the all-out and the winners trooped off the court at half-time in high spirits at 16-8.
Puneri Paltan tightened their grip on the match after the resumption as nothing worked well for the hosts. Surjeet and Manjeet Chhillar were merciless with their frontal blocks and singled out Rajesh Narwal for special treatment.
The re-introduction of Sonu Narwal just about fetched them a point when Manjeet Chhillar failed for once with an ankle hold from the left corner, a new position in which he has settled down well.
The second all-out affected by Puneri Paltan in the 31st minute helped them stamp their superiority. The hosts never brought on Jasvir Singh, their key raider, in the second half.
Bringing in Jasvir Singh, who had not yet recovered from the shoulder injury, it must not have been an easy decision for coach K Baskaran.
For Jaipur Pink Panthers, the task becomes that much tougher now with two matches left in the home phase. They face the top two- Patna Pirates and Bengal Warriors in that order in the next two days.
You can catch the highlights of the match, presented by hotstar, below:
