Pro Kabaddi League: Jaipur Pink Panthers Edge Past Haryana Steelers In Thriller

Jaipur Pink Panthers made a remarkable comeback to clinch a thrilling 37-36 victory against Haryana Steelers in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 12 match in Chennai on Wednesday.

Defending champions Haryana Steelers had a lead of ten points at one stage, before the Panthers roared back to script a sensational turnaround, registering a mammoth 17 points in the final quarter.

Sahil Satpal and Ali Samadi stepped up with seven and six points respectively, while Aryan Kumar and Deepanshu Khatri had four tackle points each. For Haryana Steelers, Vinay’s Super 10 and Rahul Sethpal’s High Five failed to get them over the line.

It was also revenge for Pink Panthers head coach Narender Redhu, who lost to Haryana Steelers and Manpreet Singh in the final of PKL 11 as the head coach of Patna Pirates.

It was an imposing start from the defending champions, with Vinay opening the scoring and Neeraj Kumar following it up with a tackle on Nitin Kumar. Deepanshu Khatri struck back for the Pink Panthers, bringing down Vinay, before Ali Samadi showcased his offensive prowess.

The Steelers soon began to impose themselves on the game, though. Vinay executed a successful do-or-die raid to give his side a three-point lead, and Rahul Ahri followed it up with another tackle on Nitin Kumar, keeping him quiet in the opening exchanges.

Shivam Patare then registered a couple of two-point raids, giving his side a 10-4 lead after the opening ten minutes.

Pink Panthers showed resilience, fighting back with a couple of Super Tackles to cut the deficit to three points at 11-8. However, Ashish Narwal halted their momentum, proving to be a menace on the raiding end.

Haryana Steelers eventually registered the first All Out of the game courtesy of a tackle by Rahul Sethpal, helping them retain a seven-point lead at halftime, with the score at 20-13.

The Steelers began the second half much like they did in the first, with Vinay opening the scoring for them. Rahul Sethpal also recorded his third tackle of the night, giving his side some breathing room.

Deepanshu Khatri and Sahil kept the scoreboard ticking before the defending champions shut the door again. Rahul Sethpal completed his High Five, giving his side a six-point lead (26-20) heading into the final quarter.

It was a tussle between these two sides in the final 10 minutes, with neither of them taking a step back in this engaging clash.

The Steelers were clinging on with the score at 30-26, but Ali Samadi and Sahil Satpal soon found some momentum for the Pink Panthers. The latter went on a spree to help his side cut the deficit down to a point with a two-point raid with under a minute to go.

The Steelers were trying to play to the clock with time running out, but Pink Panthers were having none of it.

Nitin Rawal came in with a clutch tackle on Vinay to execute an All Out on the defending champions, turning the tables in his team’s favour to give them a one-point lead.

In the final raid of the game, Vinay managed to register a bonus point before being tackled by Deepanshu to give the two-time champions a thrilling comeback win in the final minute of the match.