Jaipur: Bengal Warriors known for their water tight defence were at it again when they routed hosts Jaipur Pink Panthers 34-18 to register their seventh win in ten matches for a tally of 37 points. Their defence led by the calculative skipper Nilesh Shinde with excellent support from Girish Ernak and Bajirao Hodage hardly allowed any breathing space to the already under strength rival attack which was without Jasvir Singh. That was the key to their victory in a match where for once the attackers had to take the back seat.
As for the home team their chances of getting into the top four have received a serious setback with this their sixth defeat in 11 matches and a tally of 25 points. With three matches remaining only a miracle can help the former champions achieve their goal.
At half-time the winners led 8-11 in a match which saw the attackers from either side struggling to score. Umesh Mhatre who came in the 15th minute was the top scorer with three and Jang had a tally of two. Both scored two points each off do-or-die raids. Nilesh Shinde was the top scorer till then with four out of four successful tackles.
The second half saw the pace pick and Bengal Warriors dismissed their rivals twice in the 26th and 39th minutes. Substitute Shyam Kumar Sah covered himself with glory by scoring five raid points in five raids that included a super raid of four points in the 38th minute.
Shyam also had a hand in one dismissal that gave him one tackle point but he was also guilty of conceding a super tackle, a thing not kindly taken by his coach Pratap Shetty. Although it didn’t cause much harm it wasn’t good to be charitable to an opponent who was already down and out.
The Bengal Warriors attack was sharper in this session and Jang Kun Lee with six points andUmeshMhatre with four points was at the forefront. It turned out to be a memorable day for Jang as he became the first foreign player in the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi.
Sonu Narwal and Rajesh Narwal the main attackers for Jaipur Pink Panthers were literally mere spectators that led to their downfall. Kuldeep Singh who was in his elements last season is a pale shadow of himself like Sonu Narwal and this is an apt commentary on their woes this season.
