PKL 2019 | We didn't play the Gujarat Fortunegiants way, admits Manpreet Singh
PKL
After their loss against Pune, Gujarat Fortunegiants coach Manpreet Singh has said that his team’s performance was under par and they aren't performing the way Gujarat does.They lost their match by a 10 point margin which allowed Pune to draw level on points with them at the start of the Pune leg.
Gujarat Fortunegiants never got going as they in both the raiders and defenders failed to get points in their respective areas and managed to get their first points through a Super Tackle - five minutes into the game. Soon after they were all-out and Pune had increased their lead to 8 points. Pune kept on building that and ended the first half with a scoreline of 10-24. The closest Gujarat could get to was the seven point difference but apart from that Pune successful managed to maintain the lead.
“This is a game, and whoever plays better on the day and has patience wins. The way Gujarat Fortunegiants is known, we didn't play it out that way. In the opening 5-7 minutes, neither the raiders clicked nor the defence. Because of that Puneri Paltan managed a hefty lead and we couldn't cover that throughout the match,” Gujarat Fortunegiants coach Manpreet Singh said in the post-match press conference.
Both their department failed to fulfill their responsibility and that is what cost them the match. The raiding unit scored 17 points, 10 of those were scored by Sachin but even he was ousted 7 times which accounted for seven points to Pune's defence. Rohit Gulia faced the same problem as even though he scored seven points he conceded five as well. The defence was a huge disappointment as they were able to score only 8 points to along with 14 unsuccessful tackle attempts.
“In Pro Kabaddi, no team takes the other team lightly. They prepare well and we did as well. But that didn't quite agree on the mat; whatever we had planned, the practice we had done in the last three days... But that's a part of the game. When you make mistakes, then the other team wins,” Singh said on being asked if they underestimated Puneri Paltan.
They are currently at the 8th position on the points table and have tied their score with Puneri Paltan so whichever team performs better from here out will have more chances of going into the Top 6.
“See, there's still a chance. If the team plays the way they did today then we won't qualify. All players will have to give it 100 per cent, only then we will qualify. Because here no team is lesser than the other. There are good raiders and defenders in this league,” Singh concluded.
