Puneri Paltan kicked off their home campaign of the Pro Kabaddi 2019 with an emphatic win against Gujarat Fortune Giants at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune. The Paltan registered a 43-33 victory to complete the double, registering their second victory over the Fortunegiants this season. Nitin Tomar with his first Super 10 and an all-round defensive showing spurred the Paltans on as they started their journey towards a place in the playoffs with a win at home.

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Pro Kabaddi NEWS | Puneri Paltans gets the much needed win against Gujarat Fortunegiants

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Pune started the game with a good run of points as they did not let Gujarat score a point in the first five minutes of the match. A super tackle on Pankaj Mohite by Lalit Chaudhary finally gave the first points to the visitors. However, the home team continued their pressure over the opponents and inflicted an All-Out on them in the eighth minute to take an 11-3 lead in the match. Tomar and Manjeet continued their aggressive raiding as the hosts went on to lead 24-10 at half-time.

In the first raid of the second half, Nitin Tomar inflicted the second All-Out on Gujarat with a simple touch point on Parvesh Bhainswal. Gujarat tried to play catch up as Rohit Gulia and Sachin tried to get points from their raids, but nothing was working for the Fortunegiants as the Paltans raced ahead with great work from both departments. Gujarat inflicted an All-Out on the hosts with three minutes left, but it was too late for them to get back in the game. Balasaheb picked up a High 5 & fellow cover defender & skipper, Surjeet Singh completed a High 5 too as he tackled Sachin late in the game. In his last raid of the match, Nitin also picked up a Super 10.

Nitin Tomar found his form back and completed first Super 10 of PKL 2019.

Gujarat saw good performances from Sachin (10 points), Rohit Gulia (7 points), Parvesh (3 points) and Lalit (3 points), but with each of the playing seven for the hosts scoring a minimum of three points, Pune denied Gujarat a win and got the crucial 5 points on the Pro Kabaddi Points Table. They will next face Pardeep Narwal & the Patna Pirates in their second home match.

Last encounter - Puneri Paltan and Gujarat Fortunegaints in season 7: How Pune overcame the odds and found their first win against Gujarat FortuneGiants

Nitin Tomar found his form back and completed first Super 10 of PKL 2019. Image courtesy: Vivo Pro Kabaddi

Pune's Surjeet and Girish Ernak tackling a Gujarat player — Pune's Surjeet and Girish Ernak tackling Sachin Tanwar. Image courtesy: Vivo Pro Kabaddi

Match Preview: Pune start their home leg against Gujarat

Puneri Paltan will begin their home leg against Gujarat Fortune Giants at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune. Both Pune and Gujarat did not have good outing in their last two encounters and will be looking to come back to winning form. Between the two, Gujarat hold a 6-1 advantage in their seven outings over three seasons.