Pro Kabaddi | Maninder Singh's Bengal Warriors get the better of Tamil Thalaivas

The Thalaivas were off to a stellar start and built a 4-1 lead, reducing the Warriors to just three players on the mat. But Amit’s Super Tackle followed by Maninder’s magnificent raiding kickstarted a seven-point run for the Warriors, which left the Thalaivas with just Sagar and Surjeet Singh on the mat.

The league’s leading tackle point scorers combined to pin down Maninder to cut the deficit to just two points. The duo combined again and Super Tackled Mohammad Nabibakhsh as well, but while blocking the Iranian’s path to the midline, Surjeet stepped out of bounds which sent him to the bench.

The Thalaivas skipper’s absence on the mat gave the Warriors the opening they were hunting for. Bengal’s defence and raiders made no mistake in picking off the final three Tamil players to inflict the game’s first All Out and take a 14-9 lead. The game went back-and-forth for the remainder of the first half. The Thalaivas outscored the Warriors 7-6 to go into the break trailing 20-16.    

The Warriors started the second half stronger and pushed their lead to six. Ran Singh’s strong Waist Hold followed by another tackle point by the Warriors’ defence reduced the Thalaivas to just two men on the mat. Maninder went in to raid and managed to pressure one defender into stepping out of bounds before picking up a touch point on the other to help the Warriors inflict a second All Out and take a 32-21 lead.

The Thalaivas’ defence tried their best to kickstart a comeback, but their Warriors counterparts matched them tackle-for-tackle to ensure their side remained comfortably ahead on the scoreboard. The Thalaivas managed to cut the deficit to nine but ran out of time as the Warriors snapped their two-game losing streak.