Chennai: Playing fearless kabaddi right from the beginning has given Gujarat Fortunegiants a place in the final and now they are ready to tussle out with Patna Pirates for the Season 5 trophy at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.
Gujarat is up against two time defending champions Patna – a team which has a reputation of turning the match into their favor from any position.
Led by league’s best raider Pardeep Narwal, Patna has seen few up’s and down before coming into final but faced challenges bravely and won both the eliminators and qualifier second to secure their place in the final.
“We have two tigers in the team – Pardeep and Monu along with them we have balance team which has come out great till now and tomorrow (Saturday) also we will come out with great performance,” said Ram Mehar Singh, Patna Pirates Coach.
Fortunegiants have controlled their fortunes from the first match with their phenomenal performances and came out as table toppers in Zone ‘B’ and defeated Bengal Warriors with ease in Qualifier 1.
“I believe in my team and we have all capabilities to win the trophy. Many people got shocked with our performance as we have proved them wrong,” said Manpreet Singh, Gujarat Fortunegiants, Coach.
The match will be seen as a competition between top raiders of Patna versus top defenders of Gujarat.
Results of last four PKL Finals
Season 4, 2016: Patna Pirates 37 beat Jaipur Pink Panthers 29 in Hyderabad
Season 3, 2016: Patna Pirates 31 beat U Mumba 28 in New Delhi
Season 2, 2015: U Mumba 36 beat Bengaluru Bulls 30 in Mumbai
Season 1, 2014: Jaipur Pink Panthers 35 beat U Mumba 24 in Mumbai
Interesting Facts:
*If Pardeep Narwal lifts the trophy for Patna Pirates then he will become the youngest captain to achieve this feat. Pardeep is 20 years old.
*Gujarat Fortunegiants who will be led by Fazel Atrachali (25) in final will become the first overseas player to lay hand on the trophy if they beat Patna.
*Captain Anup Kumar of U Mumba was 32 years of age when his team won the title in 2015. U Mumba was the only team till now who had featured in three finals of PKL now Patna will equal the record when they play 2017 final on Saturday.
*Manpreet Singh and Dharmaraj Cheralathan who won the consecutive title for Patna in Season 3 and Season 4 were 38 and 41 years of age respectively.
*Navneet Gautam led Jaipur Pink Panthers to the title in inaugural Season was 31 years old.
Manpreet Singh (Gujarat Fortunegiants, Coach)
I salute Pardeep, he can also make 1000 points in any season. But I must tell you that he is also a human being and he can be tackled that’s what we have shown in last two matches which we won against Patna in league stage.
Ram Mehar Singh (Patna Pirates Coach)
We also have other raiders other than (Pardeep and Monu) which we will show tomorrow. My team will definitely show something new and we will hopefully complete the hat-trick of victory tomorrow (Saturday).
