Maninder Singh had 16 raid points. (Twitter)
Flying high on Maninder Singh’s heroic performance, Bengal Warriors nicked victory from Jaipur Pink Panthers in the Inter Zone Challenge Week of Pro Kabaddi on Sunday. The Warriors defeated Pink Panthers 32-31. It was a nerve-wracking match, and fans including Jaipur’s owner Abhishek Bachchan were seen biting nails and waiting anxiously for the outcome. In a last gasp finish, Maninder (16 raid points)got a crucial bonus point in the dying seconds to win it for Bengal Warriors at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor stadium. Pawan Kumar scored 14 points for Jaipur Pink Panthers. Jaipur’s skipper, Manjeet Chillar had a quiet night although he did keep the Pink Panther’s defence intact which allowed the raiders to go all out.
For Bengal, it was Maninder and Deepak Narwal who kept the numbers going for the Warriors. But amid neck-to-neck performance by both teams, Panther’s raider, Tushar Patil made a super raid in the ninth minute to give Jaipur 6-5 lead. It was a close affair in the first half as teams exchanged raid and tackle points.
Pink Panthers began the second half strongly as they led 18-13 by the 23rd minute . But after this, the seven Warriors of Bengal stepped into the arena with renewed energy, focus and drive. They started their fightback, and in the next few minutes scored points liebrally, and put themselves in a good position – just 2 points behind Panthers, with score at 18-20. It got better thereafter as Maninder scored with a two-point raid in the 32nd minute as Bengal Warriors made it 20-22.
The Panthers led 23-22 with less than six minutes left on the clock. They averted an All Out for four minutes as they led 29-26 in the 28th minute. Deepak Narwal got a bonus point in the 39th minute as Bengal Warriors tied the match at 30-30. Maninder clinched the match in the dying seconds with a bonus point to give Bengal Warriors 32-31 victory.
