Bengal inflicts defeat on Delhi

BENGALURU: Defending champion Dabang Delhi suffered its second successive defeat in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 as it went down 30-35 to Bengal Warriors in the last match of the Bengaluru leg at the Kanteerava Stadium here on Wednesday.

Bengal skipper Maninder Singh (10 points – 9 raid points and 1 tackle point) delivered a captain’s performance while defenders Vaibhav Gurje (6 tackle points) and Girish Ernak (5 tackle points) did enough to prevent Naveen Kumar from guiding Delhi to victory.

Naveen continued his purple patch and contributed 10 raid points, but did not receive enough support from his teammates. After holding a two-point (15-13) lead at the half-time breather, Warriors inflicted the first and only ‘All Out’ of the match in the second half, which proved to be decisive in the end. With the victory, Bengal, which had headed into the match on the back of successive defeats, returned to winning ways.

Earlier in the night, Guman Singh (12 raid points) and Heidarali Ekrami (10 points – 8 raid points and 2 tackle points) powered U Mumba to a 37-29 triumph over Gujarat Giants. Rakesh (12 raid points) waged a lone battle for Gujarat.

RESULT: Dabang Delhi 30 lost to Bengal Warriors 35; Gujarat Giants 29 lost to U Mumba 37.