Pro Kabaddi League: U Mumba, Bengaluru Bulls set up exciting title clash

Favourites U Mumba will meet Bengaluru Bulls in the final of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League Season 2 at the indoor stadium of the National Sports Club of India, here on Sunday. In the semifinals on Friday, the Mumbai team crushed the challenge of Patna Pirates 35-18 while Bulls snatched a 39-38 thriller against Telugu Titans.

It was a one-sided win for hosts though they took seven minutes to open their account. The Mumbai team, who enjoyed a great journey on their way to the last-four stage, winning 12 out of 14 matches, continued their great form and were up 22-6 by the half-time. It was a fantastic all-round performance by the U Mumba team led by Anup Kumar. While both raiders Shabeer Bapu and Rishank Devadiga kept accumulating points, Surender Nada, Mohit Chillar and Vishal Mane were rock solid in the defence.

Earlier, a well executed last raid by experienced Bulls skipper Manjeet Chillar, where he utilised full 30 seconds in the Titans half, tilted the results in their favour and they managed to slip through to the final a narrow onepoint margin.

“I had to do that as they were under pressure,” admitted Chillar. But what was the reason his team lost the way late in the second half? “My team members became too confident looking at the big lead and had to pay the price.We will try not to repeat the same mistake in the final,” stated one of the best players in the league.

The match started on a cautious note but Bulls got hold of Titans skipper and second most costly buy of the league, Iranian Meraj Sheykh, to open their account. The Bengaluru team kept the pressure on and were leading 7-5 by halfway through the first-half.

Soon thereafter, a superb tackle by Titans to bring Ajay Thakur down and earn a super-tackle point gave their supporters some exciting moments. Titans bridged the gap to 11-9. Bulls, however, earned a lona in the 18th minutes to surge ahead by 16-10 by the half-time.

With Titans’ star raider Rahul Chaudhary struggling to get going, they suffered another lona in the 25th minutes. This gave Bulls a decisive lead of 25-13.

A super tackle of Bulls captain Manjeet Chhillar in the 36th minute boosted Titans’ morale. They managed to reduce the deficit to 24-34. Suddenly there was new zeal in Titans defence and raids and they gradually inched closer but to no avail.