The fourth season of the Pro Kabaddi League ended on a high at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium with reigning champions Patna Pirates recording a 37-29 victory over formidable Jaipur Pink Panthers in the final.
It was a closely contested 40 minutes of perhaps the finest kabaddi game of the season, as both teams battled for supremacy. Dharmaraj Cheralathan, captain of the Pirates, hoisted up the golden trophy amidst spectacular scenes of celebration.
It was Patna's aggression versus Jaipur's tactics and in the end, it was Pirates who stamped their authority and emerged as champions, claiming their second trophy.
Pirates' Pardeep Narwal scored 17 points and was awarded best raider while the champions' Hodi Oshtorak was awarded the best defender of the match respectively. Telugu Titans' Rahul Chaudhari finished a dream season as the most successful raider with 146 points.
Earlier, Puneri Paltan beat Telugu Titans in the battle for third place with raider Deepak Niwas Hooda scoring 17 points for Puneri Paltan.
As for the final, both teams began strongly but it was Jaipur who struck the first blow as they packed off Pardeep Narwal to the bench in the fourth minute with the score at 2-2.
Jaipur then got three points with a super raid by Rajesh Narwal to lead 6-2 after five minutes. An all out looked imminent but Patna forced a super tackle in the seventh minute as they trailed 5-6.
Pardeep got into his act as he scored with a raid and bonus to give Patna 7-6 lead. He got another raid point as Patna led 9-6 after 10 minutes.
Jaipur were unable to control Pardeep as he scored with a two-point raid to as they trailed 9-11 after 13 minutes. Patna inflicted an all out in the 15th minute to lead 16-11.
Jasvir Singh got four points in the space of two minutes as Jaipur levelled the game at 16-16 in the 19th minute. Patna forced a super tackle in the dying seconds of the first half to take a 19-16 lead at the break.
Rajesh Mondal failed to get a point on a do-or-die raid in the 23rd minute as Jaipir trailed 18-19. Patna forced a super tackle in the 25th minute to lead 21-18.
Pardeep continued his good form and scored two points as Patna opened a five-point gap in the 26th minute. Pardeep attained a super 10 as Patna led 25-19 after 29 minutes.
Patna failed to inflict an all out in the 32nd minute as Ajay Kumar got two points with Jaipur trailing 22-27. Patna forced an all out in the next minute to lead 31-23 and were on course to win their second successive Pro Kabaddi League title.
With less than five minutes left, Patna increased the lead to 10 points and led 33-23. Jasvir Singh scored his 10th point of the match in 37th minute as Jaipur trailed 24-33.
Patna's strategy in the last few minutes was to play on empty raids and it worked well as their defence didn't make any silly mistakes.
Jaipur cut the lead to seven points in the 38th minute but Pardeep scored with a two-point raid to seal a historic triumph for Patna as they won 37-29.