Bengal Warriors nailed the third semi-final spot in the Pro Kabaddi League with a hard-fought 26-22 victory over Bengaluru Bulls here today.
The Warriors led 13-11 at half-time and even fell behind briefly by one point before gathering themselves to post their ninth win in 13 games, which took their overall points tally to 47 with a game in hand against Puneri Paltan tomorrow.
Bengal are now positioned third on the league table, behind toppers Patna Pirates and hosts-cum-defending champions U Mumba, who have advanced to the last four.
Bengaluru completed their league engagements with 14 points in as many games after sliding to their 12th loss.
In a tightly contested defence-dominated game, Bengaluru kept pace with their rivals till 21-all in the second half before the Warriors stepped up their play and surged to a well-deserved win.
Captain Nilesh Shinde led the charge of the Warriors with seven tackle points that included a super tackle and he was well-supported in defence by Bajirao Hodage (2) and Deepak Kumar (2).
Korean raider Jung Kun Lee nailed six points in attack to be followed by Mahesh Goud (5) and Nitin Tomar (4).
Bengaluru were kept in the fight till well into the second half by some good raiding by Deepak Kumar Dahiya (6 points) and Pawan Kumar (2).
Their defence was led by Preetam Chillar (3) and captain Shrikant Tewthia (2).
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Later, formidable Mumbai dashed the semi-final hopes of Telugu Titans with a dominating 38-22 win for their 11th win in 13 games.
The emphatic victory for the hosts eliminated the Titans from the tournament and provided Puneri Palton the fourth and final spot in the semis ahead of their concluding league game against Bengal Warriors tomorrow.
Rishank Devadiga (14 raid points) led the attack with support from Mumbai captain Anup Kumar (4) while Mohit Chillar (6) was solid in defence along with Jeeva Kumar (2).
For the losers, who trailed the hosts 10-18 at half time, captain Rahul Choudhari was the pick of the players by accumulating 10 raid points and two super tackle points.
Rohit Baliyan (4 including 3 raid points) and Sukesh Hegde (3) also did their bit which was not good enough for the team to progress to the semis.
