PKL 2019 | Four-point raid was the winning moment for U Mumba, says Manpreet Singh
Gujarat Fortunegiants coach Manpreet Singh stated that it was the four-point raid by Surinder Singh which became the turning point for U Mumba in the match. He also talked about the mistakes Gujarat made in the defence and the team’s hectic schedule which makes PKL, even more, tougher for them.
This was Gujarat Fortunegiants first defeat in this season as they lost to U Mumba 32-20 last night. They were outplayed by U Mumba in every department. In raiding, the most points scored was four points by substituted player Harmanjit Singh. Sachin Tanwar failed to score a single point and their other raider Rohit Gulia scored only two points.
In the defence, they started out well but as Mumbai’s lead started getting bigger they panicked and made advanced tackle attempt. They lost four points to Surinder Singh when he came into raid when there were only three players of Mumbai left on the mat. After the Super Raid, Gujarat were unable to pull the game back towards them.
“It was a very good match. After the first All-Out, that’s where the match turned in U Mumba’s favour. But the boys played very well, nevertheless. There was a point in the match that was turning in favour of Gujarat Fortunegiants. But the raid by the Sardarji (Surinder Singh) - those four points - I thought was the winning moment for them. Because when someone takes four points then it gets tough. But we kept trying, regardless. We put in the effort and got to learn where we erred the most. So, we’ll fix everything for the next match,” Gujarat Fortunegiants coach Manpreet Singh said in the post-match press conference.
This was Gujarat’s fourth match in the league and it was a day after their previous match so the hectic game schedule could be one of the reasons why their defence didn’t seem as sharp and Manpreet also talked about that during the post-match press conference on Friday.
“It is very difficult (to play back-to-back matches) because you don’t play to lose, that’s obvious. When you play to win - one day against U Mumba and then Haryana Steelers the next - both are different teams, it becomes very tough for all teams, not just Gujarat Fortunegiants. But then that’s the excitement about VIVO Pro Kabaddi. So, when you play every day, the performance consequently goes up and down,” coach Manpreet signed off.