Dabang Delhi KC beat Patna Pirates to become PKL Season 8 champions
Bengaluru, Feb 25: Dabang Delhi K C clinched the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 trophy by eking out a close 37-36 win over Patna Pirates in the summit clash here on Friday.
Delhi's star raider Naveen Kumar (13 points) and all-rounder Vijay (14 points) secured Super 10s as they overcame a tough challenge from three-time champions Patna Pirates.
Patna had an uncharacteristically poor night in the defence with the likes of Mohammadreza Shadloui and Sunil committing far too many errors.
The Pirates, however, had a chance to level the scores in the final move of the match, but Naveen evaded the defenders to cross the baulk line and win Delhi their first VIVO PKL trophy.
The match had a high intensity start with both sets of raiders picking up points.
The defences opted for a cautious approach and conceded easy Bonus Points.
Sachin's pace caused troubles in the Delhi defence while the Patna defenders stayed away from tackles on Delhi's Naveen Kumar.
Mohammadreza Shadloui clinched the first successful tackle in the seventh minute and sent Naveen Kumar to the dugout. That helped Patna get a man advantage on the mat and they converted it into an ALL OUT by the 11th minute.
The Pirates opened a four-point lead but Delhi immediately staged a fightback with Sandeep Narwal tackling Sachin successfully.
Delhi matched Patna blow for blow but Sachin's clever raids helped the Pirates evade an ALL OUT.
Both left corners -- Delhi's Joginder Narwal and Patna's Shadloui -- made uncanny errors. It became a cagey affair in the final minutes of the first half with both teams not wanting to make mistakes. The scores were 17-15 at the interval with Patna in the lead.
Both the teams had just two successful tackles each in the first half.
Naveen and Sachin opened the second half with successful raids. But Delhi's experienced defence ensured they inched closer to inflicting an ALL OUT in the early minutes.
But raider Guman Singh clinched a two-point raid in the sixth minute after the break to help Patna, who had their backs against the wall.
Shadloui then backed it up with a tackle on Naveen Kumar. Patna thought they had changed the balance of the match but Delhi's all-rounder Vijay secured a three-point Super Raid to sustain the pressure.
The scores were level at 24-24 with 10 minutes remaining in the final.
Naveen clinched his Super 10 immediately after the first time out.
Delhi continued to dominate the mat and inflicted an ALL OUT with six minutes remaining to open a two-point lead.
Vijay followed it up with a two-point raid for Delhi as they sensed an opportunity to take the match completely away from Patna.
Patna's defence, especially Shadloui, was having an unusually poor night and the team conceded another three-point Super Raid with three minutes left in the match. The all-rounder picked his Super 10 in the process.
Shadloui turned raider in the final minutes to pick up points to make it a one-point match in the last raid of the match. But Naveen kept calm and crossed the baulk line to clinch the match for Dabang Delhi K C.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
