The Season won champions Jaipur Pink Panthers defeat the in-form Bengaluru Bulls to advance to the PKL 2022 championship as the first team. Puneri Paltan overcomes all odds by defeating Tamil Thalivas in the second semi-final match to secure their place in the championship game. Puneri Paltan, who will be competing in their maiden Pro Kabaddi League final, will take against Jaipur Pink Panthers, the league’s inaugural champions. Don’t forget to tune in on December 17 to witness what is predicted to be the most thrilling Kabaddi contest of the year.
Jaipur Panthers crush the Bengaluru Bulls 49-29 to enter the finals
Jaipur Pink Panthers were expected to maintain their strong play in the semi-final
Jaipur Pink Panthers were expected to maintain their strong play in the semi-final matchup against Bengaluru Bulls after topping the league stage standings. The Bengaluru Bulls, on the other side, had a shaky run during the league stage but they managed to advance to the semifinals after defeating Dabang Delhi K.C. in Eliminator 1. The Panthers have already defeated the Bulls once this season, but they have also fallen to the southerners once during their second match in the league stage.
Jaipur Pink Panthers scored early raid points in the action-packed semifinal encounter to put pressure on Bengaluru Bulls’ defense. Arjun Deshwal and V Ajith Kumar maintained the tempo and scored a few points on raids to aid the Panthers in extending their lead. The Bulls swiftly recovered and got within striking distance of the Panthers’ score at 8-10 before V Ajith Kumar and Rahul Chaudhari upped their game and assisted the Panthers to inflict an All-Out to establish a commanding lead in the game at 18-10.
Vikash Kandola and Bharat put forth valiant efforts, including some fantastic raids, but the Bulls couldn’t turn the game around, trailing 15–25 at the break. In the first few seconds of the second half, the Panthers capitalized on their momentum and imposed an All-Out. The Panthers continued to rage and executed another All-Out to take a commanding 43-25 lead before the Bulls could formulate a retaliation strategy.
Although the Bulls scored a few raid points thanks to Bharat, there was still too much ground to cover for them with nearly no time left. Following that, V Ajith Kumar and Arjun Deshwal continued to score raid points at regular intervals as the Panthers finished the match with a convincing victory and a ticket to finals in their hands.
Puneri Paltan overcome the Thalaivas in a close encounter
Puneri Paltan defeated Tamil Thalaivas in the semi-final match to advance to the championship game as the second team. Pune will now meet Jaipur Pink Panthers in the Pro Kabaddi League 2022 championship game on December 17 at SVP stadium in Mumbai.
Puneri Paltan advanced to the semifinals after finishing second during the league phase. Tamil Thalaivas, meanwhile, advanced to their first-ever semi-final after defeating Dabang Delhi K.C. in a thrilling tie-breaker in Eliminator 2. Puneri Paltan competed in two action-packed games against Tamil Thalaivas during the league stage and won one of those games, 35-34 while losing the other, 35-34. A competitive game between the two teams appeared to be in store for the semifinal, but that was until the Thalaivas raider awoke and took the match by the scruff of its neck.
With the help of some outstanding defense and raids by Narender and Ajinkya Pawar, Thalaivas was able to inflict the first All out on the Paltan and quickly take the lead with a score of 15-11. Although Paltan’s Pankaj Mohite made some outstanding attacks, Thalaivas led 21-15 at the break despite having fewer players on the court. Puneri Paltan came out strong in the second half, forcing an early All-Out to gather momentum and reduce the deficit to one point thanks to the prowess of Mohammad Nabibakhsh.
In the final ten minutes, the two teams continually exchanged points, and the disparity between them barely exceeded two points. The Paltan obtained their second All-Out of the game with just three minutes remaining to grab a 36-30 advantage. They maintained the advantage, keeping the Thalaivas at a safe distance to effectively finish the game and advance to the championship.