MOHALI, OCT 4 : United Singhs pulled off the biggest upset by shocking leaders Khalsa Warriors by 67-57 in the Wave World Kabaddi League at the Punjab Goverment Sports Complex in Mohali on Sunday night. With this the Mohali leg of the WWKL concluded.
Next week the league matches will be played in Canada with opening matches in Abbotsford, Vancouver during October on October 11 and 12.
In the earlier matches, Lahore Lions beat Vancouver Lions 66-57 and California Eagles prevailed over Punjab Thunder 63-52.
A spirited United Singhs team, which had lost three of their last four games, were just one point ahead at the end of third quarter. Singhs than dominated the and won with a convincing manner.
Despite the defeat, Khalsa Warriors stayed on the top with 21 points from 12 matches with 10 wins, one tie (against Punjab Thunder) and one loss. United Singhs with this win move to 12 points from 11 matches and join Lahore Lions (12 points from eight matches) and California Eagles (12 points from 11 matches). So, there are now three teams with 12 points each in tied second place, though Lahore Lions have played fewer matches.
United Singhs, who began the league very well and were among the front liners had fallen back in recent weeks and managed just one win in last four games. But on Sunday, they seemed inspired from the start.
United Singhs won the toss and selected to raid first and converted it to the first point for the team and that set the trend. United Singhs stoppers were the talk of the day and from among them Sandeep Singh Sandhu stood out. He gained a psychological advantage for his team by stopping Gagandeep Singh Jogewal in the first minute and the first raid by Khalsa Warriors. Raiders Jasmanpreet Raju and Manjot Singh Gill of Khalsa Warriors made three successful raids each while Baljeet Singh Toor and Gagandeep Nagra of United Singhs performed well for their team, which went 17-14 up.
In the second quarter Khalsa fought back, with Jasmanpreet Raju and Manjot Singh scoring four raids each and their stoppers, too, contributed well with Satnam Chahal and Narpinder Singh making one stop each in the close match.
For United Singhs Lovepreet Singh and Navpreet Kumar managed four raids each and stopper Sandeep Singh Sandhu and Jagdish Singh converted one stop each as the score ended at 31-31.
The third quarter was dominated by the raiders of both the teams. Raider Gagandeep Singh Jogewal and Manjot Singh Gill made five and six successful raids respectively for Khalsa Warriors. For United Lovepreet Singh Sangha and Navpreet Kumar made six successful raids each and the session ended with a narrow edge for United Singhs at 48-47.
The fourth quarter belonged to United Singhs. Stopper Gurinder Singh made two valuable stops whereas Jagdish and Sandeep Sandhu contributed one stop each for United. Raiders Gagandeep Singh Jogewal and Manjot Singh Gill of Khalsa tried hard but United Singhs cruised ahead and won 67-57.
Man of the Match & Best Raider: Navpreet Kumar (United Singhs) (18 raids).
Best Stopper: Sandeep Singh Sandhu (United Singh) (5 stops).
Sonalika Power raider of the day: Sucha Singh of Vancouver Lions