Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5 : Gujarat coach warns small mistakes may lead to big losses in the long run

Gujarat Fortunegaints and Haryana Steelers played out a thrilling draw at the Gachiboli stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday( 27-27).Though Gujarat started off well in the game, the Steelers clawed back into the game courtesy some amazing defending from captain, Surender Nada and Mohit Chhillar.

Gujarat coach, Manpreet Singh had his poker face on after the match. He was neither happy nor sad with the result. While he was overall satisfied with his team’s performance, he did issue a warning that committing small errors may prove costly in the business end of the competition.

“Sometimes we were on top, and on other occasions, we were down. The team produced a good performance. I knew the match might end in a tie in the final six minutes. Haryana did their homework, they didn’t just come to play. We made small mistakes but they can result in huge losses in the long run,” he warned.

Gujrat never looked like losing the match in the first half. It all changed in the second half as Haryana’s raiders, especially Vikash Khandola and Surjeet cause a host of problems in the opposition half. The coach admitted that the match was theirs for the taking but they weren’t up to the task.

“We went and lost the match in the final minutes, I am sad about this. But we managed a draw so we’re a bit satisfied with the result. We were happy after yesterday’s match (Dabang Delhi). But we had to play back to back matches and it was very tough,” the coach stated.

At one point in the match, Gujarat were leading 11-8 and looked good to inflict an all-out on Haryana with just two opposition defenders on the mat. But nothing of that sorts transpired.

Chhillar and Nada defended like their lives were on the line and dug deep to ensure Haryana didn’t crumble. Gujarat captain, Sukesh Hegde later admitted that his side found tough against the Haryana duo.

“Yes, it was tough playing against them. Nada and Mohit gave our raiders a tough time. We couldn’t score a single point against them. Our defence did a good job but in the last 10 minutes, our raiding just wasn’t working and we committed defensive mistakes as well,” he explained. “We made a few mistakes in the raiding department. We had a good lead but small mistakes led to this draw.”

Gujarat Fortunegiants will once again lock horns with Haryana Steelers on 8th August in Nagpur.