Bengaluru, 09^th December 2023: The Puneri Paltan registered consecutive victories in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 after defeating U Mumba 43-32 in Bengaluru on Friday. Puneri Paltan’s raider Mohit Goyat was the star player for his team with 12 points in the game. Speaking about his performance, the Pune side’s Head Coach BC Ramesh said, “God has given Mohit a lot of kabaddi talent. He will be the number one raider this season. Mohit is a very skillful player and I have seen very few players like him. He can raid from both ends of the mat and can also support the defence unit.”

The Head Coach further added, “We have a good starting seven and we also have a strong bench. Mohit and Aslam will be the key to our success this season. They are the pillars of the team. We have a few days off now. We’ll devise our strategies properly and try to emerge victorious in all of our home games.”

Meanwhile, Dabang Delhi K.C. recorded their first win of the season after defeating Bengaluru Bulls 38-31 on Friday. The Delhi side’s defence unit scored a total of 11 tackle points, which helped the team secure a comprehensive victory. When asked about Delhi’s defence unit, the Captain Naveen said, “Our coach has given a lot of confidence to our defence unit. If our defence unit does well then we are certain that our raiders will also pick up points. I know about our defenders’ abilities and they will keep performing better as the tournament progresses.”

Naveen further said that his team will look to work on a few aspects before their next game, “We’ll plan well for our next match against Haryana Steelers. We made a few mistakes in our last game and we’ll look to rectify those errors. We had a big lead against Bengaluru Bulls, but they managed to reduce the gap. So we’ll look into the aspects that we could’ve done better against Bengaluru.”

BENGALURU, 8th December, 2023: Puneri Paltan put up a fantastic performance against derby rivals U Mumba to clinch a 43-32 victory at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday. Mohit Goyat’s Super 10 — 12 points from 17 raids — was the icing on a tremendous team performance by the Paltan.

In a match billed as one of the fiercest derbies in the season, the Paltan started off the stronger. Pankaj Mohite’s SUPER RAID in only the fourth raid of the game set the tone for the Paltan. Soon enough they had inflicted a first ALL OUT on U Mumba, to take a 13-6 lead. 

Puneri Paltan continued to put pressure on their opponents and took full control fo the game. V Visvanath’s SUPER TACKLE on Mohit Goyat was the only highlight for U Mumba in the first half as the teams went into the break with Paltan leading 21-13.

The Paltan remained relentless after the break streaking into a 13-point lead at one point of time before U Mumba turned things around. Within five minutes of the second half, they inflicted an ALL OUT of their own to claw back to 20-29.

Despite that setback, Puneri Paltan never let U Mumba wrest the game away from them, and only doubled down on their all-around brilliant display to consistently chip away and keep their huge lead intact. With three minutes of the game left, they inflicted a second ALL OUT on U Mumba before cruising to an 11-point win. 

Please find below the schedule for PKL Season 10 match on Saturday:

Game 1: Bengaluru Bulls vs Haryana Steelers – 8 pm
Game 2: U.P. Yoddhas vs Telugu Titans – 9 pm

Season 10 of the Pro Kabaddi League will be broadcast live on the Star Sports Network and for free on Disney+ hotstar.  

Bengaluru, 08^th December 2023: The Dabang Delhi K.C. put on a masterclass to defeat Bengaluru Bulls 38-31 in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday. The Delhi Captain Naveen led the charge with 13 points, while his compatriot Ashu Malik scored 9 points in the match.

The Bulls and Dabang Delhi K.C. played out a neck-to-neck battle as they were locked at 3-3 in the 5th minute. However, the Delhi team tackled Vikash Kandola and inched ahead at 6-3 in the 8th minute. Raider Ashu Malik also upped his game as the Delhi-based franchise extended their lead further.Dabang Delhi K.C. continued to put relentless pressure on their opponents and eventually carried out an ALL OUT in the 12th minute to take a massive lead at 14-7 in the 15th minute. The Bulls pulled off a SUPER TACKLE on Malik in the 18th minute, but the Delhi side still held the lead at 17-12 at the end of the first half.

Saurabh Nandal tackled Naveen early in the second half and helped the Bulls reduce the gap between the two sides to three points at 17-20. Thereafter, Sushil picked up a raid point and Nandal tackled Malik, but the Delhi side managed to stay ahead at 23-20 in the 26th minute. After losing a bit of steam, the Delhi side regained the momentum and carried out an ALL OUT to take a decent lead at 29-23 in the 31st minute.

Bharat pulled off a magnificent raid, taking out Himmat Antil, Yogesh and Mohit, but the Delhi side kept their noses in front at 32-29 in the 33rd minute. Naveen effected a raid as Dabang Delhi continued to forge ahead at 36-30 in the 38th minute. Malik pulled off another raid in the dying minutes of the match as Dabang Delhi K.C. eventually registered a comprehensive victory.

Bengaluru, 8^th December, 2023: The opening leg of the 10^th Season of Pro Kabaddi League ended with a bang as the Patna Pirates put on a superb display, to bring the Gujarat Giants’ three-match winning streak to a screeching halt. It was expected to be a classic, and both sides ensured they didn’t disappoint, matching each other blow for blow.

Reflecting on the closely contested game, Patna Pirates coach, Narender Redu, said, “The match was a very tough game, and it went down to the wire. The Gujarat Giants are a good team, but we stuck to our plans, and our raiders and defenders executed things well, which helped our cause.”

The Patna Pirates came away with a 100% record from the opening leg, winning both their games in Ahmedabad. Coach Redu further added that the win against the Fazel Atrachali led side, the best in the opening leg, would help the Patna Pirates as the tournaments progresses.

He said, “The Gujarat Giants did well in their backyard, and were high on confidence after a hat-trick of wins. However, the win for the Patna Pirates is a big deal, because we now know we can take on the best, and this will give my team a lot of confidence in the upcoming weeks of the 10^th Season of PKL. This will be a huge motivating factor going ahead.”

Preview for Saturday’s Games

Match 14, Day 2 in Bengaluru, will pit the home team, Bengaluru Bulls against the Haryana Steelers. Neither side have had a good start to the season and will be looking to build some momentum. The Bengaluru Bulls have Vikas Kandola, Bharat and Neeraj Narwal in their ranks, all of whom will be hoping to put on a show for their home fans. The Haryana Steelers aren’t going to have it easy.

The second game will be a clash of the titans – Pardeep Narwal and the U.P. Yoddhas taking on Pawan Sehrawat’s Telugu Titans. Both the ace raiders have had slow starts to their season so far, and will hope to rise to the occasion. While Pardeep and U.P Yoddhas comprehensively defeated the Haryana Steelers in their second game, the Telugu Titans are yet to register a win after 2 games.

Ahmedabad, 08^th December 2023: The kabaddi crazy fans in Ahmedabad waited for four years to watch their team in action in their own city and the Giants didn’t disappoint. Led by the ferocious Fazel Atrachali and guided by one of the most successful coaches in the Pro Kabaddi League – Ram Mehar Singh, the home team registered threevictories in four matches. 

After a never-done-before launch press conference on a cruise at the Sabarmati River, the first leg of the tenth season witnessed the attendance of several dignitaries including Secretary of the BCCI – Jay Shah, Country Manager & President, Disney Star – K Madhavan, owner of the Jaipur Pink Panthers – Abhishek Bachchan, actor Manoj Bajpayee, Governor of Gujarat – Acharya Devvrat and Swami Ramdev among others.  

Under the watchful eyes of the eminent dignitaries, the Gujarat Giants’ young raiders Sonu and Rakesh shone in the limelight. Sonu picked up 33 points, while Rakesh recorded 26 points to help the home side complete the Ahmedabad leg at the top of the table with 16 points. Moreover, Sonu and Rakesh received tremendous support from their Captain Fazel Atrachali (8 tackle points) and Sombir (13 tackle points) in the defence unit. Furthermore, Atrachali completed 100 matches as Captain this season and the first leg of this year’s edition also witnessed the Hi-Flyer Pawan Sehrawat record his 1000^th raid point. 

The kabaddi lovers in Ahmedabad were served with several high-octane clashes. The Bengal Warriors led at 23-15 in the second half against the Bengaluru Bulls on 04 December 2023, however, the Bulls forged a magnificent comeback to make it 28-28 in the 37^th minute. But the Warriors held their nerve and emerged triumphant with the scoreline reading 32-30 in the end. 

U Mumba and Gujarat Giants also played out a riveting contest. They were on level terms going into the dying minutes of the match, however, Sonu stood tall and pulled off a fantastic raid to help his side win the match 39-37 on 05 December 2023.  

Speaking about the very successful Ahmedabad leg as a team and host, Sanjay Adesara, Chief Business Officer (CBO), Adani Sportsline said, “Ahmedabad has absolutely set the trend in terms of how the fans cheer on the teams in the 10th season of the Pro Kabaddi League, and our very own Gujarat Giants have also raised the bar for the performances on the mat. We are delighted to have been the city to kick start this special edition of the tournament, and this week has also helped further popularise Kabaddi in Gujarat, as more and more people have turned their attention to the sport. We would like to wish everyone the very best as the caravan moves to Bangalore. Ahmedabad has well and truly made its presence felt on the big stage yet again, and we look forward to more weeks like this.” 

After six days of dynamical clashes in Ahmedabad, the PKL season 10 will move to the Garden City from 08 December 2023. The fans in Bengaluru are all geared up to welcome their team and help them to get on board in PKL season 10 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. The Kannada film superstar Kiccha Sudeep will also grace the stadium with his presence on the opening day of the Bengaluru leg.  

When asked about PKL returning to Bengaluru, Kirthi Muralikrishnan, CEO, Bengaluru Bulls said, “Bengaluru has always been a sports crazy city and we are certain that the fans will turn up in large numbers to showcase their support for kabaddi. The energy in the stadium is always electric and we can’t wait to play in front of our home fans. We are eagerly looking forward to attain the momentum as a team in the Bengaluru leg.” 

Meanwhile, the Head Sports Leagues, Mashal Sports and League Commissioner, Pro Kabaddi League Mr. Anupam Goswami said, “We were keen to start the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 in a grand fashion and I would like to thank the people of Ahmedabad in helping us in doing so. The fans in the stadium got behind not just their own team but also all the other teams in action as well. After a successful Ahmedabad leg, we will now look to continue our momentum in Bengaluru.” 

The Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 Bengaluru leg will be played from 8-13 December 2023. Thereafter, the league will move in the following order of venues – Pune (15-20 December 2023), Chennai (22-27 December 2023), Noida (29 December 2023 – 3 January 2024), Mumbai (5-10 January 2024), Jaipur (12-17 January 2024), Hyderabad (19-24 January 2024), Patna (26-31 January 2024), Delhi (2-7 February 2024), Kolkata (9-14 February 2024) and Panchkula (16-21 February).  

Season 10 of the Pro Kabaddi League will be broadcast live on the Star Sports Network and for free on Disney+ hotstar.  

Ahmedabad, 7th December, 2023: The Patna Pirates put on a stupendous showing in the final game of the opening leg of the 10th Season of the Pro Kabaddi League, ending the Gujarat Giants’ winning streak in an absolute nail-biter of a clash. The Patna Pirates played with panache and power and won by 33-30 against the Gujarat Giants.

Sachin and Rohit Gulia got the Patna Pirates and the Gujarat Giants off the blocks with their first raids of the game, after which the former champions raced into a 3-point lead within the first three minutes of the game. The Patna Pirates continued to dominate the early exchanges, with each one of them pitching in against the home team. However, as the first half progressed, the Gujarat Giants started to fight back.

Compact and well-drilled, both sides continued to go at each other with all they had, and with less than 8 minutes to go in the half, the scores were level at 9-9. While Sourav Gulia and Rakesh were leading the charge for the Gujarat Giants, it was Sudhakar M who picked up the baton for the Patna Pirates in the first half, which ended with both sides tied on 12-12.

The Patna Pirates were off the blocks at good pace in the second half, with Sachin landing a crucial ALL OUT on the Gujarat Giants, to give themselves a 7-point lead, and some much-needed breathing space in what was turning out to be an absolute thriller. The Gujarat Giants were finding it tough to get going on the night as Sachin, Neeraj and Ankit continued to dominate. At the halfway point in the second half, the Patna Pirates led by 11 points.

Another ALL OUT went in favour of the Patna Pirates, who further stretched their lead to 14 points with just under 9 minutes to go. However, Rakesh and Sombir, encouraged by the talismanic Fazel Atrachali were looking to mount a comeback. With 5 minutes left on the clock, the Patna Pirates had a 9-point lead. The home team then landed an ALL OUT on the Patna Pirates, giving the supporters something to cheer about.

With two minutes left, Rakesh notched up his Super 10, before he continued to power on, cutting down the lead to two points. However, the late charge was not enough, as the Patna Pirates walked off the mat with full points.

Ahmedabad, 07^th December 2023: The Jaipur Pink Panthers and the Bengal Warriors played out a highly entertaining 28-28 draw — the first of the season — at the EKA Arena by TransStadia on Thursday. Bhavani Rajput recorded a Super 10 for the Jaipur Pink Panthers, meanwhile, Shrikant Jadhav top-scored for the Warriors with 7 points in the match.

The Jaipur Pink Panthers got off to a great start and didn’t allow the Warriors to pick up a point in the opening minutes of the match. It took the guile of Shrikant Jadhav on a DO OR DIE raid to get the Warriors on board. From there on, the Warriors constantly kept the Pink Panthers’ numbers restricted on the mat, logging points constantly. 

Numbers didn’t matter for the Pink Panthers though. Their defence led by Ankush logged three SUPER TACKLES in a row in the first half to ensure they held the lead at the break. So dominant was the Pink Panthers’ defence unit that it contributed 8 tackle points to their tally as they led 13-9 at halftime.

To the Warriors’ credit, they didn’t get deterred by the Panthers’ defence unit and kept attacking without abandon. They won their reward early in the second half, inflicting the first ALL OUT of the game to take a 16-13 lead. 

Once again the Pink Panthers surged, and going into the last ten minutes, the teams were locked at 20 points apiece. There was no separating them as the clock ticked down, each raid matched by the other. A series of decisions given by a hair’s breadth ensured the two teams would remain locked on even terms with a minute to play. Right at the end, Shrikant Jadhav thought he’d won it with 10 seconds left to play, but Bhawani Rajput pulled off a raid point right after. Warriors’ Captain Maninder Singh was happy to carry out an empty raid to settle for a tie in the end.

Ahmedabad, 07^th December 2023: The Pro Kabaddi League superstar Pardeep Narwal became the first player to record 80 Super 10s in PKL during U.P. Yoddhas’ match against Haryana Steelers in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. Narwal, who scored 12 points in the match, helped his team defeat the Steelers 57-27. Speaking about the magnificent feat, Narwal said, “I will try to register my 100th Super 10 this season. There are 20 more league games left for us and I’ll definitely try to record a Super 10 in each of the matches.”

When asked about the win, the Yoddhas Captain expressed, “It was really important for us to win the match against Haryana Steelers because we lost our previous match against U Mumba. If we lost two consecutive matches, then we would’ve been under a lot of pressure. We wanted to play as a unit against Steelers and we managed to do that.”

After a disappointing outing against U Mumba personally, Narwal wanted to make things right in Yoddhas’ game against the Steelers, “I couldn’t even score one point against U Mumba and I disappointed the fans as well. Therefore, I was determined to put up a good performance against the Steelers.”

Preview for matches on Friday:

The Bulls will be looking to find form in front of their home fans in the first match of the Bengaluru leg, however, they will face stiff competition from Dabang Delhi K.C., who have a strong raiders brigade in Naveen, Manjeet and Ashu Malik.

The second match of the day will be the Maharashtra Derby as the Puneri Paltan will take on U Mumba. Puneri defeated the Season 9 champions Jaipur Pink Panthers in their first game, meanwhile, U Mumba went down in a close contest against Gujarat Giants in their last match.

Ahmedabad, 06^th December 2023: The U.P. Yoddhas put up an all-round masterclass to overpower the Haryana Steelers 57-27 at the EKA Arena by TransStadia on Wednesday. A complete team performance was highlighted by the brilliance of raiders Surender Gill (13 points) & Pardeep Narwal (12 points) and defender Sumit (8 points). 

LIVE MATCH CENTREThe initial minutes of the game were marked by the two sides exchanging points at regular intervals, albeit the Yoddhas doing it via touch points and the Steelers reliant on bonus points. With their numbers dwindling quickly, the Steelers’ Ashish carried out a SUPER TACKLE on Pardeep Narwal to help his team stay in the contest.

Despite that brief resistance, the Yoddhas were too good on the attacking front, and within minutes, they inflicted the first ALL OUT of the game on the Steelers to take a commanding 12-6 lead. 

Despite a brief regrouping by the Steelers, the game followed a similar pattern, with the Yoddhas, and Surender Gill in particular, being completely dominant. Almost single-handedly, Gill inflicted a second ALL OUT on the Steelers with four minutes of the first half to go, to give them a 29-14 lead at the break. 

A third and fourth ALL OUT followed within the first 8 minutes of the second half. With a massive 25-point lead, the Yoddhas seemed to be cruising to an easy win. Gill’s raiding brilliance was perfectly complemented by Sumit and Nitesh Kumar’s brilliant tackling and there seemed to be nothing the Steelers could do to curb the wave. 

The Yoddhas continued to put pressure on their opponents relentlessly and eventually wrapped up a massive 30-point victory. 

Ahmedabad, 06th December 2023: The Patna Pirates produced a scintillating performance to record a 50-28 victory over Telugu Titans in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 on Wednesday. Raider Sachin led the charge for the Pirates with 14 touch points in the match, meanwhile, Pawan Sehrawat was the lone warrior for the Titans with 11 points at the EKA Arena by TransStadia.

Pawan Sehrawat picked up a raid point early in the game as the Titans took the lead at 3-1 in the second minute. However, Sachin pulled off a SUPER RAID soon after and helped the Pirates level the scores at 3-3. But Sehrawat also effected a SUPER RAID in the next minute as the Titans inched ahead at 6-3. Ankit tackled Sehrawat in the 7th minute, but the Titans still held the lead at 8-7. However, Sachin effected another magnificent raid in the 10th minute to help the Pirates take the lead at 11-10.

Sachin continued to lead the charge for the Pirates and reduced the Titans to just one member on the mat. But Omkar Patil carried out a brilliant raid as the Titans stayed in the contest at 13-13. However, the Telugu Titans couldn’t hold on for too long and were eventually ALL OUT in the 13th minute. The raiders and defenders kept picking up points as the Patna side earned a healthy lead at 19-13. The Pirates inflicted another ALL OUT just before half-time to take a massive lead at 28-16.

The Titans tackled Sachin in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Pirates still held a big lead at 31-19. The Patna side continued to showcase brilliant form and extended their lead further at 34-22 in the 27th minute. Sehrawat tried fighting for the Titans, but he didn’t receive much support from his team members as the Pirates kept forging ahead and eventually walked off the mat with a colossal victory.

Ahmedabad, 06^th December 2023: The Gujarat Giants registered their third consecutive victory in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 after defeating U Mumba 39-37 at the  EKA Arena by TransStadia on Tuesday. Sonu led the charge for the Giants once again with 11 points in the game. 

Speaking about his performance, Giants’ Head Coach Ram Mehar Singh said, “Sonu gives it his all in every raid. He uses his height brilliantly. We have told him to play his game and decide his own strategies. He has played very well in all three games. And when he does well, the rest of the team also gets motivated to put up good performances.”

The Gujarat Giants’ Captain Fazel Atrachali also lauded Sonu’s performance, “He has been the hero for the Gujarat Giants this season. He’s our game-changer. Rakesh also played well for us against U Mumba. We have a lot of good players and our team is well-balanced.”

Furthermore, Atrachali, who plays as a specialist defender in the side, tried his hand at raiding in his team’s match against U Mumba. When asked about the same, he said, 

“I used to be a raider about ten years ago. I played as a raider for Iran in 2013. I was happy about how I effected my raid and I didn’t know that it was a Do-or-Die raid. I went in to carry out an empty raid, but I managed to clinch a raid point.”

The Iranian, who holds the records for the most tackle points (432) and most successful tackles (406) in the history of PKL, spoke about his journey in the world’s biggest kabaddi league, “My journey in the Pro Kabaddi League has not been easy. I was just looking for one chance when I entered PKL for the first time in Season 2. And now I am the most successful defender in PKL. It’s difficult for an Indian to become a star in PKL, so imagine how difficult it would be for a foreign player. Sometimes, I can’t believe I hold so many records in this competition.”