BENGALURU: Raider Arjun Deshwal was once again the star for Jaipur Pink Panthers as they beat Puneri Paltan 31-26 in a Pro Kabaddi League match on Friday.
In the earlier match of the day, Haryana Steelers beat Bengal Warriors 41-37.
Panthers’ lead raider Deshwal scored 11 points while defenders Sandeep Dhull and Sahul Kumar scored 4 points each.
The Season 1 champions jumped to the 7th position on the table after the victory.
Jaipur Pink Panthers started the match brightly with Deshwal impressing in the raids. Captain Deepak Hooda started on the bench for the Panthers who had left corner Sandeep Dhull back.
His presence gave the defence a lot more confidence as they prevented the likes of Pune’s Mohit Goyat and Pankaj Mohite in the early minutes.
Jaipur got their first ALL OUT with 8 minutes remaining to open a healthy 8-point lead.
But Pune’s next-generation stars were in no mood to let Jaipur run away with the match. The trio of Pankaj Mohite, Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat got quick raid points to help Pune clinch an ALL OUT with 2 minutes remaining. The first half ended well-balanced at 18-17 with Jaipur in the lead.