Pune: Puneri Paltan’s fans turned up in huge numbers in the Badminton Hall at the Balewadi Sports Complex here when they took on U Mumba in Match 90 of PKL Season 11.
However, the home fans returned disappointed as U Mumba walked away with a 43-29 win on Tuesday night with Ajit Chouhan scoring 12 points along with Manjeet, who added 5 more to the cause.
Defenders Sunil Kumar and Sombir registered High 5s for U Mumba as well. For Puneri Paltan, Pankaj Mohite had the best outing with 9 points to his name.
The win now gives U Mumba the bragging rights in the Maharashtra derby as they have 11 wins from 24 games against Puneri Paltan.
The Season 10 champions, Puneri Paltan, have registered 10 victories in the fixture, while three games have been tied.
Sombir and Manjeet picked up the first points for U Mumba, but along expected lines, Puneri Paltan roared back in the early exchanges.
U Mumba though kept up their intensity and very soon, they were all scoring important points in the first quarter of the contest.
Sunil Kumar, Manjeet and Ajit Chouhan were leading the charge for U Mumba, who were looking to pull away with an early lead.
Neither side was allowing the opposition an inch on the mat. For Puneri Paltan, Akash Shinde and Abinesh Nadarajan were having the most impact in the first half, despite being on the wrong end of the scoreline.
Manjeet and Ajit Chouhan though were causing Puneri Paltan plenty of problems as U Mumba were looking to go through the gears.
In the final minutes of the first half, Pankaj Mohite ran through the U Mumba defence with a three-point raid, giving Puneri Paltan an important but slender lead.
Pankaj Mohite’s onslaught continued and with a bit of help from the defenders, Puneri Paltan landed an emphatic All-Out on U Mumba and snatched the lead just before the break.
At half-time, Puneri Paltan led by 19-16 and the Pune crowd were understandably delighted.
Ajit Chouhan wiped out the lead with the first play of the second half as he landed an impressive Super Raid on Puneri Paltan. And then he came back for more to restore U Mumba’s lead.
Before the first six minutes of the second half were over, Ajit Chouhan completed his Super 10 and also inflicted an All-Out on Puneri Paltan. U Mumba were dominant, but the defending champions weren’t throwing in the towel.
With the game approaching the half-hour mark, U Mumba led by 8 points and had managed to thwart the likes of Pankaj Mohite and V Ajith.
As the contest went into the final phase, Puneri Paltan started to mount one last fight back. Pankaj Mohite had a couple of successful moments, but Sunil Kumar and Sombir, both of whom had completed their High 5s, were having none of that.
Manjeet then picked up an All-Out at the expense of Puneri Paltan, which all but sealed the fate of the game. Eventually, U Mumba walked off the mat with a resounding win in the Maharashtra derby.
