Jaipur Pink Panthers clinched narrow win over U Mumba

An inspired and captivating performance by two teams that left everything on the mat saw the Jaipur Pink Panthers triumph over U Mumba 42-39 at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi in Pune on Monday. Arjun Deshwal's 15 raid points and Ankush's 5 tackle points helped them register a hard-fought victory.

A riotous first half kicked off among a flurry of points, both teams exchanging them constantly. Arjun Deshwal's Super Raid on Surinder Singh, Rinku and Jai Bhagwan in the opening minutes put U Mumba under pressure. Soon enough the Pink Panthers had inflicted the first ALL OUT to take a 9-1 lead.

From there U Mumba built their way back into the game. A Super Raid by U Mumba's Heidarali Ekrami on Ankush, Rahul Chaudhari, Sahul Kumar drew them closer and then a few minutes from halftime, they got their first ALL OUT to draw level at 17-17. A frenzied last minute saw the teams trade points as the Pink Panthers went into the break leading 20-19.

In the second half U Mumba's defenders upped the game and slowly rushed into a massive lead. With another ALL OUT looming, the Pink Panthers defenders Ankush and Lucky Sharma thought they had got themselves a Super Tackle only for Ashish to slip out and inflict another ALL OUT as U Mumba took a 27-22 lead.

The game though was far from over. Jaipur inflicted another ALL OUT to retake the lead 34-33 and with five minutes remaining, the game had everyone on edge. In the end, despite U Mumba's late surge the Jaipur Pink Panthers kept moving ahead and eventually walked off the mat as winners of the match.

Top Performers

U Mumba

Best Raider - Ashish (8 Raid Points)

Best Defender - Ashish (3 Tackle Points)

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Best Raider - Arjun Deshwal (15 Raid Points)

Best Defender - Ankush (5 Tackle Points)

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