5 reasons why Star Sports Pro Kabaddi Season 3 was even better than Season 2

The third edition of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi concluded recently amidst much fanfare. By defeating U Mumba in the final, Patna Pirates emerged as the champions - the third team in as many seasons to win the trophy.If the previous edition was a blessing for kabaddi, the third season took it to further heights. Nail-biting matches, bone-crunching tackles and audacious raids added to the brilliant spectacle, turning the event into a real carnival. The unique tournament will now be played twice in a season a welcome piece of news for the kabaddi enthusiasts!Here are 5 reasons why Season 3 took kabaddi to uncharted territory:

#1 Three centurions in Season 3 compared to just 1 in Season 2

U Mumba’s Rishank Devadiga was one of 3 players who crossed the 100-point mark

Season 3 witnessed multiple raiders at their attacking best. The previous season produced only a single centurion raider - Kashiling Adake, who amassed a whopping 114 points. Inspired by his heroics, Season 3 saw as many as three raiders hit the 100-point mark.

Pardeep Narwal ended as top scorer in the league with a massive 116 points for Patna. U Mumba’s Rishank Devadiga came into his own as he managed to score 106 raid points. And Patna produced another centurion in young gun Rohit Kumar, who scored 102 raid points.

#2 International players etched their names on the leaderboards, unlike Season 2

Jang Kun Lee (L) and Fazel Atrachali did their countries proud

Yes, kabaddi being an Indian game, you’d expect a large proportion of the cream of the crop to be Indians. But if a sport has to truly go global, you need players from all around the world to consistently produce moments of magic.

Season 2 was heavily, if not completely, dominated by Indians and their impeccable performances. But Korea’s Jang Kun Lee and Iran’s Fazel Atrachali turned several heads this season.

Lee had his best season in the PKL as he finished 5th in the raid points table. Atrachali, meanwhile, showed us why brute force can be beautiful to watch too. His tackles were top notch and understandably he has the 2nd highest successful tackling percentage in the league (69.56%). More importantly, Fazel secured a place in U Mumba's first seven and played almost every match.

#3 The league got more competitive in Season 3

Bengal Warriors and Puneri Paltan qualified for the semis

U Mumba once again finished as table toppers in the league stage of the tournament with 60 points, a carbon copy of the points total they had at the end of last season. But it’s the places below that tell a completely different story.

In Season 2, the point difference between the 1st and 2nd teams on the table was a massive 10 points. Compare this to Season 3, where the points difference between 1st and 2nd was just 2 points.

Unlike last season, where you all but knew the semi final match-ups well in advance, this year Bengal Warriors and Puneri Paltan had to fight right till the end. Each of them made their first appearance in the knockout stage, while the points required to reach the semis was a massive 47 points, as opposed to 41 last season.

#4 Records tumble

The Patna Pirates team celebrate after a record-breaking night in Delhi

The third season of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi saw a plethora of records broken. For the first time ever in the league, a match crossed the 100-point mark when Patna Pirates demolished Dabang Delhi 67-34. Patna also became the team to score the most points in a single match with their 67 points.

Pardeep Narwal amassed 24 points against Telugu Titans to match Kashiling Adake's record of most points scored in a match. Moreover, U Mumba's winning run of 11 matches was another new record.

#5 Massive increase in viewership

The meteoric rise of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi continued in the third season as well

It’s rare that a sport picks up heat in such a short span of time; much of PKL’s success is down to the nature of the game itself. They say matches are made up of moments. Short and intense, the league produces memorable moments every 30 seconds.

The third season recorded a rush in its fan following, with the opening week registering 36 per cent higher viewership than the week 1 viewership for Season 2. Viewership in Season 3 reached a massive 189 million viewers within the first 14 days itself. Safe to say, this is only the beginning.