The sport of Kabaddi has been taken to another level with the advent of Pro Kabaddi League in 2014, and the competition only gets better in each edition. Hence when the fourth edition of the men's competition final takes place, a humdinger of a contest is expected at Gachibowli stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday. But before the men's final between the top two teams takes centre-stage, the women's title-decider is also set to enthral fans in the stadium.
Click here to read how Patna Pirates won Pro Kabaddi League for the second time
However, all eyes will be on the men's competition, which is expected to produce some scintillating moments. The fans have been entertained to the hilt, and the final should be no different. After a gruelling action for more than a month, Patna Pirates and Jaipur Pink Panthers have reached the final. They have deservedly reached the Pro Kabaddi season four final, with some tremendous performances in the group stages as well as their respective semifinal encounter.
Patna Pirates looked in great form to defeat Puneri Palatan in a thrilling encounter, score reading 37-33. Pink Panthers also showed their class, reaching the final of the Pro Kabaddi League, with a 34-24 win over Telugu Titans. Both the finalists will be keen to come up with another great effort to lift the title on Sunday.
Both the teams have some wonderful individual players such as Pardeep Narwal, Kuldeep Singh and Rajesh Mondal (all Patna Pirates), Amit Hooda, Rajesh Narwal and skipper Jasvir Singh (Pink Panthers). These stars need to come up with their biggest game to increase their chance of winning the title.
Pink Panthers will walk into this final with immense confidence after their amazing triumph over Patna Pirates in their last two encounters. They defeated Patna 26-21 and 29-22 in their last two matches.
Though Pirates might have lost their previous encounters, they must have learned from the loss, and should look to not make similar errors. They can take inspiration from their title win in the third edition of the Pro Kabaddi league earlier in the year.
Pink Panthers also know what it means to win the title as they had emerged triumphant in the first edition in 2014. So, irrespective of the team which lifts the Pro Kabaddi League title on Sunday, the winner will become the first franchise to win the title twice.
In the other Pro Kabaddi final, Storm Queens and Five Birds will battle it out for the inaugural edition of the women's competition. Though the match may not be able to generate much interest as that of the men's final, we cannot ignore the quality involved in the women's title-decider.
With players like Tejaswini Bai leading Queens, they have some other strong stars like Sakshi Kumari, who needs to support the captain. Bai's opposite number, Mamtha Poojari, will be keen to lead from the front and show her skills to help the Birds lift the title. But she cannot do it all alone and would need support from Kishori Shinde as well.
Watch Pro Kabaddi League final live
Storm Queens vs Five Birds women's final is schedule for 7 p.m IST (3:30 p.m BST).
Jaipur Pink Panthers vs Patna Pirates men's final will begin at 9:15 p.m. IST (3:45 p.m. BST).
Hindi Coverage - Star Gold, Star Sports 3/HD 3
English Coverage - Star Sports 2/HD 2
Telugu Coverage - Maa Movies
Kannada Coverage - Suvarna Plus
UK viewers can catch the action on Life OK
Live streaming will be available on Hotstar and Starsports.com
