Ludhiana, September 7: Lahore Lions rallied from a first quarter deficit to beat YoYo Tigers and move into sole second position in the inaugural Wave World Kabaddi League. Lahore Lions won 69-59.

Star raider of Lahore Lions Akmal Dogar is on attacking mode as Yo Yo Tigers stoppers are trying to build a strong coordination

Lahore Lions rode on the exploits of raiders Shafiq Ahmad Chisti (29 raids) and AkmalShazadDogar (22 raids) between the contributed 51 of their team’s 69 points they coasted to a convincing win.The fourth win in five matches took Lahore Lions’ tally to eight points. Khalsa Warriors, who were held to a tie by Punjab Thunder on Saturday lead with nine points, while Lahore Lions have eight.

Earlier in the day United Singhs beat Royal Kings USA 59-53 to take their tally to six points. United Singhs and YoYo Tigers share third place on the table with six points each from five matches.

Shafiq was adjudged the Wave Man of the Match and also the Top Raider of the Match. Mohammed Ramzan (5 stops) was the Best Stopper. Shafiq’s 29 raids is the best so far in the Wave WKL League. The Sonalika Best Raid of the Day combined for both matches on Sunday was won by Baljeet Singh of Royal Kings USA.

The arrival of the Wave WKL into Punjab seems to have spurred all the teams as the matches have become closer and more thrilling. After two close games on Saturday, one of them being a tie, the two games on Sunday were once again great thrillers.

YoYo 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, YoYo 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 strike rate with their raids. Lahore soon overtook YoYo 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 YoYo stoppers. They also exposed the weaknesses in YoYodefence. 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.TheShafiq-Akmal combine continued to rule in the third session as YoYo 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.

Scores at the end of each quarter: YoYo Tigers v Lahore Lions

Quarter 1:       YoYo Tigers lead 16-14

Quarter 2:       Lahore Lions lead 36-26

Quarter 3:       Lahore Lions lead 54-44

Quarter 4:       Lahore Lions win 69-59

Match No. 19: United Singhs v Royal Kings USA

• Man of the match: Sandeep Singh Sandhu (United Singhs)
• Best Raider:Shafiq Muhammad Butt (United Singhs (16 raids)
• Best Stopper: Sandeep Singh Sandhu (United Sings) (8 stops)

In the first match on Sunday, the United Singhs owned by a Birmingham-based group edged out a fighting Royal Kings USA 59-53 to post their third win of the Wave World Kabaddi League at the packed Hockey Stadium in Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

As the match progressed, the difference between the teams was United Singhs skipper Sandeep Singh Sandhu who was not only the best stopper but also the Wave Man of the Match with eight stops. Sandeep is a player of Indian origin but is now UK-based and a British passport holder. Shafiq Muhammad Butt, United Singhs’ raider of Pakistani origin, effected 16 successful raids to carry his team to a fine win.

The Birmingham-based United Singhs have four players of Indian origin who are now based in UK and they also have Shafiq Muhammad Butt, a player of Pakistani origin. In contrast, the Sacramento-based Royal Kings USA have a US-based owner but their players are all essentially India-based.

Scores at the end of each quarter

Quarter 1:       Royal Kings lead 14-12

Quarter 2:       United Singhs lead 29-26

Quarter 3:       United Singhs lead 46-37

Quarter 4:       United Singhs win 59-53

League position after Match 20 of the Wave World Kabaddi League:

Matches for next week: September 13-15 in Bathinda, Punjab

Sept 13: YoYo Tigers v United Singhs; Khalsa Warriors v Royal Kings USA

Sept14: Punjab Thunder v Vancouver Lions; Royal Kings USA v California Eagles;

Sept 15: YoYo Tigers v United Singhs; Khalsa Warriors v California Eagles

Tags: Kabaddi, Lahore Lions, Sport, Sports, Wave WKL, Wave World Kabaddi League, WKL, World Kabaddi League, YoYo Tigers