Victorious Lahore Lions kabaddi team back home

Lahore: Sports Board Punjab’s Lahore Lions kabaddi team, who toppled Yo Yo Tigers comprehensively on Sunday, returned home on September 8 (Monday). Sports Board Punjab officials received the team at Wahga Border. A large number of Kabaddi enthusiasts were also present on the Wahga Border to cheer their team.

The Lahore boys handed a shocking 69-59 defeat to strong Yo Yo Tigers Kabaddi team, owned by Indian singer Yo Yo Honey Singh in the third phase match of World Kabaddi League (WKL) in Ludhiana.

SBP’s kabaddi team have so far featured in five matches of WKL and returned successful on four occasions. Lahore Lions and Indian actor Akshay Kumar’s Khalsa Warriors both have won four matches each but the latter topped the points table with nine points while the SBP’s team is placed second with 8 points.

Lahore Lions raiders Shafiq Chishti and Akmal Shahzad Dogar contributed heavily for their team’s victory with 29 and 22 raids respectively. In all, they combined to score 51 points of their team’s aggregate of 69 points. Shafiq was adjudged the Man of the Match and also the Top Raider of the Match. Shafiq’s 29 raids is the best performance in a single match so far in the WKL. Mohammad Ramzan was the Best Stopper with 5 stops.

Yo Yo Tigers began well, as their skipper, Manminder Singh, a three-time Man of the Match this season, as usual gave his team a great start. In addition raider Sandeep, too chipped in well, as both scored five successful raids each. Stopper Kulveer Singh Kaka had two good stops. Despite Shafiq (6) and Akmal (5) giving their team a boost, Yo Yo Tigers held a slender advantage at 16-15.

The Lahore Lions, whose only loss so far has been to Khalsa Warriors, moved into their rhythm in the second quarter with both Akmal and Shafiq giving them 100 per cent strike rate with their raids. Lahore soon overtook Yo Yo Tigers as Shafiq and Akmal’s aggressive raids paid rich dividends.

Shafiq in particular thrilled the spectators with elusive jumps and getting away from the clutches of the Yo Yo stoppers. They also exposed the weaknesses in Yo Yo defence. By the end of the second session, both Shafiq and Akmal had conducted 14 successful raids each.

Raiders Manminder and Sandeep did put up a fight but Lahore Lions were slowly but surely pulling away. The Shafiq-Akmal combination continued to rule in the third session as Yo Yo Stoppers seemed to struggle against them. The Lahore duo won most of their raids as the team kept inching further away despite the best efforts of Manminder, Sandeep and Angrez Singh. In the final quarter Lahore Lions kept up the momentum and their raiders kept adding to their tally.

It may be recalled here that Lahore Lions, so far, have won four matches out of five encounters in World Kabaddi League in England and India. They won their two matches in England with clear margin. In their opening match in England, Lahore Lions thrashed Canada’s Vancouver Lions by 74-61 in London on August 10. Then on August 16, they routed Royal Kings USA by 62-50 convincingly at LG Arena Birmingham.

The Lahore boys then continued their winning run in India toppling Punjab Thunder by 64-44 on August 24 at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. Their only defeat was against Khalsa Warriors on August 30 when they lost the battle by 64-55.