Dabang Delhi to clash with Bengal Warriors in PKL final
Ahmedabad: Dabang Delhi and Bengal Warriors will clash in the final of Pro Kabaddi League Season Seven after winning their respective semifinal matches here on Wednesday.
In the first semifinal, Naveen Kumar was the star as Dabang Delhi beat defending champions Bengaluru Bulls 44-38 to book their maiden summit clash berth. Bengal Warriors beat U Mumba 37-35 in the other semifinal in a tightly-fought contest to also clinch a place in the final for the first time.
The final will be played here on Saturday.
The Delhi team produced an all-round performance, with Naveen Kumar impressing with his raids (15 raid points) and Anil Kumar dominating with his tackles (4 points) to win in front of a packed stadium at the EKA Arena by TransStadia.
The Bulls, just like in the Eliminator against UP Yoddha, had a slow start, with Delhi dominating the first few plays. Ravinder Pahal seemed keen to maintain his dominance in duels against Pawan Sehrawat and started the match with a clean ankle hold of the 'High flyer'.
Delhi dominated in all departments, with Naveen Kumar spearheading the attack, and inflicted the first All-Out of the match in the fifth minute to open up a 6-point lead.
Pawan secured a three-point Super Raid in the seventh minute to reduce the margin but Delhi maintained their momentum thanks to an unstoppable Naveen Kumar. They inflicted another All-Out in the 13th minute to open up an 11-point lead as Naveen Kumar secured another Super 10 (his 20th consecutive).
Naveen did make a rookie error as he failed to complete a raid on time which gave the Bulls some hope going into the break. Delhi led Bulls 26-18 at half time.
The Bulls opted for a more aggressive approach in the second half with the defenders consistently getting better of the Delhi raiders in do-or-die situations.
But what makes Delhi a complete unit is the presence of versatile all-rounders and the likes of Chandran Ranjit and Vijay stepped up with valuable raid and tackle points to always maintain a healthy lead of six or seven points.
Despite the absence of lead raider Maninder Singh, Bengal Warriors matched the in-form U Mumba side in the early exchanges, with Sukesh Hegde looking composed in his raids.
Rinku Narwal in the left corner was also having a good day for the Warriors who were helped by some uncharacteristic errors in the Mumbai defence. A two-point raid by Sukesh for the Warriors in the 12th minute, pushing away Fazel Atrachali in his way back to the halfway line, set the tone for Warriors who inflicted an All-Out with 5 minutes remaining to open a 4-point lead.
The All-Out gave the Bengal the confidence they needed and they improved the lead to 6 (18-12) at the end of the half.
Bengal made the mistake of slowing the pace of the match in the early minutes of the second half that allowed U Mumba to reduce the gap a little but Sukesh Hegde produced a stellar 4-point Super Raid in the 8th minute to deflate U Mumba's confidence.
The Warriors pressed home the advantage to clinch another All-Out in the 10th minute of the half to open up a 10 point gap. Despite Mumbai's best efforts, they could not bring down Bengal's lead as the match moved to the final minutes with Bengal well in control.
U Mumba went on to clinch an All-Out with 3 minutes remaining to make it a one-point game. Sandeep Narwal's block with under two minutes remaining made it 35-35.
Arjun Deshwal failed in a Bonus Point attempt in his team's penultimate raid and the Warriors floored the raider in the final move of the game to clinch the match.
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Commercial LPG hike: Delhi restaurant owners warn of higher menu rates, job losses
New Delhi (PTI) A day after a 50 per cent rise in commercial LPG cylinder prices, Delhi's food business, with restaurant owners and street vendors have warned of higher menu rates, financial strain and potential job losses if the trend persists.
The price of commercial LPG was hiked by a steep Rs 993 per 19 kg cylinder, marking the third consecutive monthly hike amid rising global energy prices linked to the West Asia conflict.
For many in the restaurant industry, the spike has been both sudden and steep.
Manpreet Singh, honorary treasurer of the National Restaurant Association of India, said that eateries are already grappling with supply challenges alongside rising costs.
"There is a huge difficulty in getting these cylinders, and black marketing is also increasing in many unregulated sectors," he said, noting that prices that were once around Rs 1,600, often dropping to nearly Rs 1,300 with discounts, have now surged to between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000 per cylinder.
He further added that a medium-sized restaurant typically uses between two and five cylinders daily, making the increase particularly burdensome as costs mount.
Singh further said that as costs mount, smaller establishments could struggle to stay afloat. Instead, the association has advised restaurants to shift towards piped natural gas connections through Indraprastha Gas Limited as a more sustainable alternative.
"If this problem continues, PNG is the only long-term solution," he said, adding that temporary measures like coal offer limited relief due to slower cooking times and that it can largely be used only for tandoors.
Echoing similar concerns, Kabir Suri, owner of Mamagoto in Khan Market, said the impact is already visible across the industry. "There has been almost a threefold increase in cylinder prices for restaurants," he said, adding that rising fuel and logistics costs are compounding the pressure.
"If this continues, it will become a significant financial burden, and food prices will inevitably go up. Adding to this burden, higher fuel costs are also affecting logistics and transportation, making a price rise unavoidable. The extent of the impact will vary between small eateries and large chains depending on their scale," he said.
Global oil prices have surged nearly 50 per cent following disruptions in energy supply chains due to the West Asia conflict, pushing up commercial fuel costs and transport expenses.
A West Delhi-based restaurateur said they are trying to manage rising costs while keeping their staff secure. "We are trying to ensure that our staff, from kitchen workers to waiters, are paid on time and do not face immediate hardship," the owner said.
"We are a small restaurant with seating for about 20 to 25 people at a time. But if this continues for long, we will have to take difficult calls. There is only so much we can absorb, and menu prices will have to go up. We hope this does not continue for a longer period," he said.
Another restaurant owner in North Delhi, who did not wish to be named, said operational adjustments alone may not be enough. "We are checking our costs very carefully and trying to cut wherever possible, but if fuel prices remain high, it will eventually affect how we run the business," the owner said.
"Coal helps in tandoor cooking, but it takes more time," the owner further added.
The strain is even more acute among street vendors, many of whom operate on thin margins. A vendor in Saket said he had recently expanded his business, moving from a mobile cart to a rented outlet.
"I have a family to feed and more responsibilities now. Earlier, I managed with a moving cart, but after renting the place, expenses increased," he said. "Whenever cylinders were unavailable, I had to buy them at higher rates in the black market. Now even regular supply is too expensive, and if this continues, we may have to shut down," he added.
In Laxmi Nagar, another vendor said they are struggling to keep the business running. "Sometimes we even used domestic cylinders from home when supply ran out because we had to keep the stall running," he said, adding that rising costs leave little choice but to increase prices or bear losses.
On April 1, the rates of commercial LPG cylinders were hiked by Rs 195.50 per cylinder, followed by a Rs 114.5 hike on March 1, taking the total increase over the past three months to Rs 1,303. With the latest revision, a 19 kg commercial LPG cylinder now costs Rs 3,371.5 in Delhi, up from Rs 2,078.5 earlier.
The prices of domestic LPG cylinders used for household cooking have remained unchanged. They were last increased by Rs 60 per 14.2 kg cylinder on March 7 and currently cost Rs 913 in Delhi.
