The Bengal Warriors and Dabang Delhi have secured their place in the semi-finals, while the Bangalore Bulls, UP Yoddha, U Mumba and Haryana Steelers, are still in the fray of making it to the final four.
The seventh edition of the Kabaddi Pro League has entered its last lap. Out of 12 teams, defending champions Bangalore Bulls, UP Yoddha, U Mumba, Haryana Steelers, Bengal Warriors, and Dabang Delhi have made it to the playoffs.
Delhi and Bengal automatically secured their place in the semi-finals, after emerging the first and second in the league stage. Whereas, Bengaluru, UP, Mumbai, and Haryana are still in the fray of making it to the final four.
The action will kick off with the defending champions Bengaluru taking on UP in Eliminator 1, which will be followed by the clash between Mumbai and Haryana on Monday. The winners of these matches will then take on Delhi and Bengal respectively in the semi-finals.
Dabang Delhi
Led by Joginder Narwal, Delhi emerged as the leader of the league stage with 15 wins. Despite having experienced candidates like Narwal and Ravinder Pahal, Navin Kumar (19) has emerged as an influential figure behind Delhi's success. Naveen Kumar has so far secured the maximum Super 10 this season, and he has single-handedly fetched 268 out of 482 raid points
This is the first time Dabang Delhi has qualified for the semi-finals, we are not under pressure, but it is the teams and my wish to emerge as the champions this season, Narwal said ahead of the eliminators at the EKA Arena in Ahmedabad.
BENGAL WARRIORS
Bengal is still in the hunt for their maiden in PKL. The Kolkata based franchise became the second team to book a spot in the playoffs, with 14 wins. Maninder Singh has been the backbone of Bengals splendid season.
Mohammad Ismail Nabakhsh of Iran has been another key asset, who managed to score 107 points.
The journey of Pro Kabaddi League Season 7 has been incredible, and the team has given their best to make it to the Top 2. We are now preparing for the semi-finals, and are aware that the game will be tough. We began the season on a positive note, and we intend to finish it as champions, he said.
UP YODDHA
UP will kick-off the playoff action against defending champions Bengaluru in the first Eliminator on Monday. The team had a mixed campaign with 13 wins, seven defeat along with two draws.
Naveen said During the league stage, we won both games against Bengaluru Bulls which helps our confidence but this one is going to be the toughest and a win will take us into the semi-Finals,
UP rely heavily on their firm defense line, Shrikant Jadhav can prove to be a game-changer. Sumit, who is currently the second-best defender in the season with 70 tackle points, will hold the charge in defense.
Bengaluru Bulls
After becoming the MVP in the previous edition, Bengaluru skipper Pawan Sehrawat once again stood up to the task as he currently leads the charts for bagging the most points in the ongoing season.
Sehrawat feels that the league stage has given his team enough time to study their opponents and is hopeful in retaining the title.
The league stages were tough but it allowed us to study our opponents as we played them more than once. However, now that we are in a knockout situation, we have to play to our strengths. We have a strategy in place against UP Yoddhas strong defensive squad and we will do our best to ensure we retain the title, Sehrawat said.
U Mumba
Led by Irans Fazel Atrachali, U Mumba have been rock-solid in defense.
During the league stage, if we lose one match, we know we have a chance to go back and work on our mistakes to improve. Tomorrows match is a do-or-die situation if we lose, our season is over and we go back home. Haryana is a strong team and they too will come with a plan to limit us but as a team, we are confident and are taking one step at a time. We will give our 100% and aim to win the match, the Iran international said on Sunday.
Haryana Steelers
All eyes will be on Vikas Kandola when Haryana take on Mumbai. Vikas secured 178 raid points so far. Despite winning 13 out of 22 games, Captain Dharmaragh Ciralathan feels the team had a good run in the league stage.
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