Puneri Paltan ended their Ahmedabad leg with a loss against Jaipur Pink Panthers with a score of 33-24. Puneri Paltan held their nerve and composure in the match and put up a fighting show on the mat.
The first half began with a blitzkrieg, much in sync with the tournament’s intensity, with Nitin Tomar securing a bonus point for the Maharashtra side. But Deepak Hooda, secured a raid point immediately for the Panthers with his signature hand touch and in the process sent Paltan's star raider Tomar to the bench.
Paltan’s defence struggled resulting in a high frequency of successful raids for the Pink Panthers. The Panthers secured their first all-out of the match in the 16th minute and the restart wasn’t too different for the Paltans after a raid by Deepak Hooda sent both Girish Ernak and Shubham Shinde out. The half ended with a healthy 6-point lead for the Jaipur Pink Panthers (17-11).
The Panthers clinched their second all out 11 minutes into the second half. In the end, it was a cruise for the Jaipur team, who had a 13-point lead with 5 minutes remaining and won by a margin of 10 points.
Despite Puneri Paltan’s repeated efforts to mount a comeback, they still couldn’t match up to their rivals. Nitin Tomar’s presence on the mat, three well-executed super tackles and coach Anup Kumar’s calm influence at the dugout were not helpful for the team.
Anup Kumar, Coach for Puneri Paltan said, "We had a good raiding side today. However, we lost today's match only because of the defense which was very weak. We will work on our shortcomings and come back stronger in the next game. There's enough to introspect for now."
Puneri Paltan to begin their Chennai leg with their first encounter against the home team Tamil Thalaivas on August 18th 2019.
Match Awards
VIVO PERFECT RAIDER OF THE MATCH
Deepak Niwas Hooda – JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS
TATA MOTORS ACE DEFENDER OF THE MATCH
Vishal - JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS
DREAM11 GAME CHANGER OF THE MATCH
Sandeep Kumar (Dhull) - JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
Sandeep Kumar (Dhull)- JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS
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