Puneri Paltan on Tuesday beat Tamil Thailavas by 12 points to reach the sixth spot on the points table in the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League season 8 and improved their chances of securing a playoff berth.
PP have been playing non-stop as the organisers of the league have to constantly change the schedule because of certain reasons. Anup Kumar, the coach of the team, revealed that his team is keeping up with the game only because of their physio’s brilliant work behind the scenes.
Despite a tough schedule, Paltan have been performing brilliantly, largely owing to their young stars Mohit Goyat and Aslam Imandar. In the fixture against the Thailavas, this duo collected a total of 19 points.
Imandar has scored 144 raid points from 20 games this season, while Goyat has managed 134 raid points in 18 matches. Both players also contribute defensively every now and then.
If Pune are in with a chance to qualify for the playoffs despite Rahul Choudhary not playing and Nitin Tomar not displaying the best of forms, it’s due to this duo.
On being asked about the duo’s brilliant performance in the season, Anup Kumar said:
“if we talk about Kabaddi, be it a raider or a defender, if they are playing at their peak, the other teams look to avoid that particular player, same is happening with Aslam and Mohit, teams are trying to avoid these two and in the process giving them the points.”
Asked about how he felt about his performance in the match against the Thailavas, Imandar revealed that the coach always tells the players to forget about the previous day and focus on a new day.
“That is how I approached today’s game as well, with the new motivation”,
he told the reporters.
Anup Kumar also said that this win would motivate his team to gain victories in the upcoming matches as most teams are still in the race for the playoffs.
