Patna clinch maiden title, pip Mumbai in thriller
NEW DELHI: In a match befitting a tournament decider, Patna Pirates registered a last-gasp 31-28 win over U Mumba in the Pro Kabaddi League final on Saturday.
After holding the Delhi leg of league matches at the Thyagaraj Stadium which has a capacity of 6,000, the playoffs were shifted to the 15,000-seater Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium — and the almost full house seemed to vindicate the decision.
That the two teams vying for the title were way ahead of the pack only upped the profile of the match.
While last edition’s winners and two-time finalists U Mumba were coming into their third final on the back of a 12-match winning streak, Patna were making a maiden final appearance after making the semifinals in the previous two editions. Patna started out the stronger of the two. The defence, led by Sandeep Narwal, reduced the tournament’s most successful raider Rishank Devadiga to a mere spectator. The challengers raced to a 19-6 lead and at one point threatened to shut out the defending champions.
Almost on cue, Mumbai captain and kabaddi’s posterboy Anup Kumar pulled off eight points from five raids, wrest ing back momentum to 28-28 Unfortunately for Mumbai, his run of successful raids came to an end in the last minute, before Narwal tagged three in the dying seconds to clinch the title.