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Two super raids cost the Gujarat Fortune Giants dearly as they suffered their first defeat of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 7 when they lost to hosts U Mumba on Friday. The Giants, who had been undefeated in the first three matches of the Season 7, went down 20-32. It was just the second win for U Mumba on the home turf this season.
Giants were guilty of defense errors, especially in the second half. In the 35th minute, U Mumba surprised Giants by sending Surinder Singh for a raid. The defender managed to fox Gujarat defense and returned with a super raid, 4 points, which consumed Giants’ big defenders captain Sunil Kumar and Parvesh Bhainswal. Interestingly, it was the first-ever raid point for Surinder. In the process, the direction of the game changed as U Mumba raced ahead 15-24.
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Earlier, at the start of the second half, U Mumba’s raider Rohit Baliyan breached Giants’ defence and returned with three points, allowing Mumba to take control of the match. It was a collective failure for Manpreet Singh’s boys, who had a record against U Mumba before the match.
The first half was a complete contrast where both the teams played cautiously. Rather, it was the defence unit of both the teams that called shots. Though there was high intensity and raiders showed willingness to pick up touch points, the defenders of both the teams kept the raiders in check.
Unfortunately for Giants, lead raider Sachin Tanwar was unable to breach the U Mumba defence which was led by former Giant Fazel Attrachali.
Gradually, pressure started taking control of the minds of the players. Giants captain Sunil Kumar wasn’t spared either. In the 15th minute, Abhishek Singh raided the Giants den in a do-or-die situation. With five seconds left on the clock, Sunil made a mistake giving Abhishek a touch point.
Coach Manpreet Singh made substitutions and sent experienced Vinod Kumar on the mat. In the dying moments of the first half, the former U Mumba player was instrumental in providing support in super tackle when the score read 7-8. At half time whistle, Gujarat trailed by just 2 points (7-9)
Giants face Puneri Paltan on Monday in Patna leg.
