Hyderabad: Puneri Paltan bested a young and resilient Haryana Steelers to lift their first-ever Pro Kabaddi League trophy here on Friday.
In an exciting final, which could have gone either way, a guided performance from the Paltan took them to the trophy with a 28-25 victory at the GMC Balayogi Stadium.
The defence of the Puneri Paltan gave their side an early lead after they got Haryana Steelers' raiders Shivam Patare and Vinay. However, Goyat was then tackled by Ankit to get the Steelers on the scoreboard in the final. This boosted their confidence as Rahul Sethpal led the charge with his defending to keep the clash interesting.
The ultimate match of PKL 10 was a closely fought encounter in the first half as the Haryana Steelers had an answer to all of the Puneri Paltans' raids. However, a moment of magic from Pankaj Mohite saw him complete a SUPER RAID worth four points as the Paltan contingent took a decisive lead. Ashish's successful raid in the final seconds for the Steelers meant that the score read 10-13 heading into the final 20 minutes of season 10.
The only ALL OUT of the finale came off Mohit Goyat's raiding, giving the Puneri Paltan a substantial lead at the start of the second half. This did not deter the spirit of a young Haryana Steelers, as the raiders entered the action and grabbed as many bonus points as they could to get them close to Puneri Paltan.
Pankaj Mohite was the game-changer for the Puneri Paltan in the Grand Finale as the resilience of the Haryana Steelers was met with brilliance to keep the fans on the edge of their seats. Siddharth Desai got Puneri Paltan skipper Aslam Inamdar and star all-rounder Mohammadreza Shadloui to give his team hope but the Puneri Paltan lived up to their form to seal their maiden PKL trophy and prove their credentials of being the best team in Season 10.
Match Awards:
Gamechanger of The Final: Gaurav Khatri
Moment of the Final: Pankaj Mohite
Best Raider of Season 10: Ashu Malik
Best Defender of Season 10: Mohammadreza Shadloui
Young Player Of Season: Yogesh
Most Valuable Player of The Tournament: Aslam Inamdar
