The sky was pink for Jaipur Pink Panthers as they clinched the Season 9 trophy

The Panthers were on top of their game in the 9th edition of vivo Pro Kabaddi. The team brought their A-game on the mat under the leadership of Sunil Kumar to lift the trophy. The inaugural champions finished at the eighth position in Season 8 and bettered it in the latest campaign with the top spot by the time they ended the league stage. They had a good blend of youth and experience. The head coach Sanjeev Baliyan and assistant coach Upendra Malik worked really hard on these players and got the best out of them. An all-round performance from the Top Cats was one of the main reasons for their success in the campaign.

After losing the first match of the season Jaipur Pink Panthers went on to win five matches in a row. After this, they were rated as one of the strong teams in the competition. . They topped the league stage and booked a direct berth for the semifinal in which they secured a big win. In the final, the Panthers were made to sweat it out on the mat but they managed to hold their nerve to clinch the title.

In the raiding department, the talismanic Arjun Deshwal was in top-notch form and accumulated 296 raid points at an average of 12.33 raid points/match. He was the most important cog in the wheel for Jaipur and he was adjudged as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament. He set a standard and benchmark of his own. V Ajith Kumar and Rahul Chaudhari accompanied Deshwal and added good strength to the attack. In total, these two raiders added 171 raid points for the side. The young Bhavani Rajput looked good in the matches that he featured in for the Panthers and amassed 36 raid points.

Defensively, Ankush was the stand-out performer on the team with 89 tackle points. He was named as the defender of the season for leading the defensive chart in the tournament. The debutant got help from his skipper Sunil Kumar (64 tackle points) and Sahul Kumar (56 tackle points) respectively. These two experienced defenders took the pressure off Ankush and performed the defensive duties to the best of their ability. The other two debutants Reza Mirbagheri and Abhishek KS also made their presence felt with 36 and 25 tackle points for the Panthers.

Jaipur Pink Panthers scored the most points (956) in the league. They were the best defensive side as they scored 290 tackle points which also includes inflicting 48 All-Outs in the entire season. They won their second vivo Pro Kabaddi title and with this win. Earlier, Jaipur Pink Panthers won the title in the inaugural season of vivo Pro Kabaddi. they became the second most successful franchise after Patna Pirates.

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