Bengaluru Bulls, U Mumba reach Pro Kabaddi League Playoffs
Panchkula, Oct 2: Defending champions Bengaluru Bulls and U Mumba sealed their places in the playoffs of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) with easy wins , here on Wednesday.
High-Flyer Pawan Sehrawat was once again the hero for the Bulls as they beat home team Haryana Steelers 56-39. Sehrawat scored a record-shattering 39 points, three more than what the entire Steelers managed.
He bettered Pardeep Narwal's 34 raid points score in a match.
U Mumba sealed their place in the playoffs with a 30-26 win over Patna Pirates.
Skipper Sultan Fazel Atrachali remained rock solid in defence yet again as the captain led from the front to neutralise Patna's Pardeep Narwal with a strong performance at the Tau Devilal Sports Complex.
U Mumba started the first half brightly with the defence taking an aggressive stance from the first minute.
Fazel Atrachali set the tone early with double thigh hold tackle on Narwal in the very first minute of the match.
Abhishek Singh, ably supported by Athul MS, provided the firepower for Mumba in the raids as Mumbai cruised to a lead. They clinched their first all-out of the match in the 9th minute to open up an 8-point lead.
Fazel reached the milestone of 300 overall points in the process. But Patna clawed their way back in the closing stages of the half thanks largely to improved performances by Pardeep Narwal and Jang Kun Lee.
The Dubki King' Narwal produced a two-point raid with under three minutes left for the half time to reduce Mumba's lead to 5 points. The half ended 17-13 with Mumbai on top.
U Mumba started the second half with a Super Tackle on Narwal but Patna composed themselves to stay in the match despite Pardeep being off the court for a long duration.
Mohammad EsmaeilMaghsoudlou impressed with his all-round efforts while Jang Kun Lee's improved raiding also helped Patna stay in touch. Fazel meanwhile was giving everyone a masterclass on captaincy, marshalling and motivating his troops to stick to the gameplan.
Patna got lucky with six minutes remaining when Jang Kun Lee ventured out-of-bound and took three U Mumba defenders with him.
With the point margin reduced to just a point and momentum heavily on Patna's side, the three-time champions sniffed an all-out but Rohit Baliyan's kick helped U Mumba revive another player to stay in the lead.
The Mumbai defence held firm in the final minutes to clinch a seat in the playoffs.
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Integrity of electoral process severely compromised, Cong to soon launch movement: CWC
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress Working Committee met here on Friday and adopted a resolution alleging the integrity of the entire electoral process was being severely compromised against which the party would soon launch a movement.
In the resolution of the top body of the Congress, the party said free and fair elections is a Constitutional mandate that was being called into "serious question by the partisan functioning of the Election Commission".
The CWC, which met amid the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, said the session has been a washout so far because of the Narendra Modi government's "stubborn refusal" to have an immediate discussion on three pressing national issues -- "the recent revelations regarding corruption by a business group, and the violence in Manipur and Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal".
Asked why the Congress Working Committee (CWC) resolution does not name the business group, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, "The answer is the Adani group".
"The CWC believes the integrity of the entire electoral process is being severely compromised. Free and fair elections is a Constitutional mandate that is being called into serious question by the partisan functioning of the Election Commission.
"Increasing sections of society are becoming frustrated and deeply apprehensive. The Congress will take these up these public concerns as a national movement," the resolution stated.
Addressing a joint press conference along with Ramesh and Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, party general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal said the party discussed the political situation in the country for four-and-half hours and adopted the resolution.
He said the CWC has decided to constitute internal committees to look into electoral performance and organisational matters.
About the Assembly polls results in Maharashtra, Venugopal said the electoral outcome in the state was "beyond normal understanding and it appears to be a clear case of targeted manipulation".
