In the 1st Qualifier of the Super-Playoffs in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 5, it will be the Gujarat Fortunegiants locking horns against the Bengal Warriors at the Dome, NSCI in Mumbai.
The winner of this qualifier will progress straight to the finals while the loser will get a second shot at qualifying by playing against the winner from the third eliminator.
The two teams earned their spot in the playoffs by virtue of finishing on top of the points tally in their respective zones at the conclusion of the league stage.
The Gujarat Fortunegiants are coming into this match on the back of a slender, one-point win against the Puneri Paltan while the Bengal Warriors played out a tie in their last fixture against the Telugu Titans.
The two teams have met just once previously in the league and their low scoring affair was a real humdinger with neither team emerging on the top and the match ending in a tie.
The Furtunegiants will not experiment much with their well-balanced starting line-up which features an even mix of defence and offence. The Iranian-Indian quartet manning the Gujarat defence has been the most successful one in this season with the likes of Fazel Atrachali and Abozar Mighani in either corner and Parvesh Bhainswal, Sunil Kumar in the covers. The attack will be led by skipper Sukesh Hegde who has embarked on some glorious form in the recent matches alongside the talismanic young gun Sachin and the experienced Mahendra Rajput.
Bengal Warriors, on the other hand, will be led by Surjeet, the cover defender who has been in brilliant form on an individual note.He will be supported by the likes of corner defenders Srikanth Tewthia and Ran Singh who will be in charge of stopping the rival raiders in their tracks. The attack will be spearheaded by Maninder Singh, the comeback man who does the bulk of the scoring for the team and he will be assisted in his strides by Deepak Narwal and Jang Kun Lee. To complete the starting seven, Vinod Kumar will be brought into the scheme of things for he can play on both ends of the mat.
Gujarat Fortunegiants vs Bengal Warriors match prediction
If one has to call the match, it would be in favour of the Gujarat Fortunegiants given the golden form of their entire starting seven which can be a concern for the rivals for it will not be easy for the Warriors to stop the new entrants on either end of the mat.