Puneri Paltan defeated a tenacious U Mumba 37-27 on Wednesday night at the SDAT Multi-Purpose Indoor Stadium, with Aditya Shinde in fine form once again. Before the raider came off his own to seal the victory, the season 10 champions were losing, but they put on a strong show.
Rinku’s tackle on Aslam Inamdar kicked off U Mumba’s outstanding start, while Gaurav Khatri, Pankaj Mohite, and Gurdeep were later added to Ajit Chouhan’s Super Raid. Aditya Shinde then grabbed Rinku to earn Puneri Paltan’s first points of the evening, giving U Mumba a 4-0 lead.
The season 10 winners were awakened by this and returned to the match by riding Aditya’s form. Lokesh Ghosliya and Parvesh Bhainswal were taken off the mat by his successful raids, allowing them to tie the score at 5-5. However, U Mumba’s raiding guaranteed that U Mumba ended the first quarter ahead of schedule.
Puneri Paltan demonstrated why they are among the most evenly matched teams this season in the second quarter. The Paltan responded to U Mumba’s dominance of the opening exchanges with a string of incisive raids and timely tackles.
Aslam and Pankaj spearheaded the attack, working together to give Puneri the game’s first ALL OUT and turn the tide decisively in their favor. The second quarter undoubtedly belonged to Puneri Paltan, demonstrating the change in intensity. They controlled possession, made deliberate movements, and set the pace of play, going from a deficit early on to a 17–12 lead at the half.
The match remained close in the third quarter, with Puneri Paltan holding a slim one-point advantage. Ajit Chouhan of U Mumba maintained his incredible run of play throughout the evening, constantly breaking through Puneri’s defense and keeping his team within striking distance. Everyone was reminded of his keen intuition and poise under duress by his successful raids on Vishal Bhardwaj and Gurdeep.
While defenders like Gurdeep and Abinesh Nadarajan made crucial tackles at crucial times, Aditya Shinde once again demonstrated his mettle by matching Ajit raid for raid and winning vital points for the Paltan. Despite U Mumba’s attempts to shift the score with Ajit’s strength and Sandeep’s reliability, Puneri’s well-rounded strategy kept the score at 22–21 with ten minutes remaining.
Amirmohammad Zafardanesh’s tackle on Pankaj gave U Mumba the equalizer, and then Sandeep touched Rakesh. The lead was frequently switched between the two teams, and they matched each other like for like. The Paltan took the lead going into the last five minutes of the game thanks to a Super Tackle from Aditya Shinde.
The Paltans, who were ahead by four points, were cautious about conceding pointless points. After Aditya Shinde finished his Super 10 and reached 100 points in the PKL, Anil scored a Bonus Point in a Do-Or-Die raid, which kept the game thrilling right up to the very end. Ultimately, Aditya Shinde gave U Mumba an ALL OUT, guaranteeing the Puneri Paltan a 10-point victory.
