"100% champion."
Mohammadreza Shadloui was in no doubt ahead of the game. He was the missing piece in the Haryana Steelers puzzle last year, and was the diamond that Manpreet Singh wanted.
₹2.07 crore at the Pro Kabaddi League auction, and perennial bridesmaid as a coach, Manpreet Singh won his first final in four attempts to give Haryana Steelers their first-ever PKL title. The pain of three silvers as coach, gone with this gold medal - to add to the gold jewelry adorning him already.
It came in typical Steelers fashion. Manpreet had fashioned a team that squeezed the life out of the opposition with a stellar defence, and that's exactly what they did in the final. The best raiding unit in the PKL - Devank and Ayan Lohchab of Patna Pirates, 477 points between them - were limited to 8 in Pune tonight, and the Steelers triumphed 32-23 to lift the PKL 11 trophy.
After an ill-tempered contest on December 6th in the league stage, there was no love lost between the two teams. Manpreet Singh had called the Pirates 'the weakest team' and Shadloui was all bravado in the pre-final utterances. Fans and the neutrals were ready for the PKL's best raiders to give the Steelers their come-uppance. The only problem was, the Steelers came prepared, all ready to back up their big words.
Shadloui walked out with a swagger of a champion, certain in the knowledge that he was the best, ever ready to prove it. At the other end, Devank had thrown the gauntlet down with inflammatory pre-match quotes, and Shadloui grabbed it immediately, The Iranian was at his tiger-ish best, swiftly grabbing Devank's right ankle and never letting go, his ankle-hold sending the Pirates raider out in the second raid of the game.
Ayan went soon after, and just minutes into the game the Pirates were without their best raiders, both falling to Shadloui's inescapable attentions. This had turned into exactly the game Manpreet wanted, with defences thriving and his Iranian ace in title-winning form.
Yet, the most a defence can score at once is two points, and one of kabaddi's fundamentals meant that the Pirates always had a chance with their raiding. And it proved to be the case when Narender Redhu's side took an 8-7 lead, Ayan with a stunning raid that earned him two points.
While the Steelers had more tackle points than raid points, they continued to gift points to the opposition with cheap Super Tackles, and a five-point lead became three with another present to make it 15-12 in favour of the Steelers, just as the first half came to an end.
In the second half however, the Steelers proved why they were the champions-in-waiting. Sudhakar had whittled the lead down to one for the Pirates, but as Devank was revived, the Steelers defence simply proved too good for the league's best raider, shoving him out with the strength of seven, not one. Shadloui upended Ayan soon after to make it 19-16, the roar of the Pune crowd that once adored him for their own team reverberating in the arena.
While the Steelers are all about their defence, it's also about their raiders - Vinay and Shivam Tavare ticking things over, with the latter also grabbing tackle points to top the final with nine. Vinay then sparked off the winning two minutes, a Messi-esque swivel of the hips in a raid making the Pirates look like amateurs as he grabbed two points, and as the Steelers unit smothered whatever the Pirates sent their way, an all-out to make it 26-17 in the final ended the contest.
As the game ticked over to the final minutes, Devank became only the fourth raider in PKL history to score 300 points in a season, but there was no answer from the Pirates. The result was a foregone conclusion, and Manpreet Singh, who had lost his voice after a game (and season) spent screaming his lungs out, broke down in tears, joined by Shivam Patare, as reality hit.
Dive into the Final Showdown vibes - where legends rose and champions were crowned ����#ProKabaddi #PKL11 #LetsKabaddi #ProKabaddiOnStar #PKLFinal #HaryanaSteelers #PatnaPirates pic.twitter.com/4U4ng0nBDD
- ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) December 29, 2024
"Kabaddi won today. We got the fruits of our hard work," said the Steelers' coach after the final whistle blew. He could not have been more right - and it all began with the auction.
The Steelers had lost last year's final to Puneri Paltan, with Shadloui then inflicting a loss on Manpreet, noting they needed a left corner. It turned out Shadloui was that left corner. "Which team is Shadloui, that team is champion," said the Iranian after the final, and it was his presence as an all-rounder that proved to be the missing piece.
Yet, Manpreet Singh's side began with a losing run, only for the coach to stick to his guns. His defence-first approach came to the fore, especially since Shadloui also chipped in with raid points, the first since Manjeet Chillar in PKL history to score both 50+ raid points and 50+ tackle points in a single season. The defensive and raiding unit around the Iranian also proved that it was a team, a unit that could deal with the best of individual talent the league could throw at them.
This was a season-long gift to Manpreet, Shadloui aptly describing himself as Santa to a coach who was more naughty than nice, but with a gold medal hung around his neck - lists be damned.
As captain Jaideep waltzed the trophy over to Manpreet, the Haryana Steelers, fashioned in the image of their coach's steely resolve had all the glory. PKL champions for the first time, but if they keep doing what they do... it won't be the last.