Veergarh Warriors clinch NKL title, turn the final around in the second half
वीरगढ़ वॉरियर्स ने राष्ट्रीय कबड्डी लीग (एनकेएल) फ़ाइनल में पटना पैंथर्स को 38-31 से हराया। हाफ़ टाइम तक पैंथर्स 21-16 से आगे थे, लेकिन दूसरे हाफ़ में वॉरियर्स ने 22-10 का स्कोर बनाकर मुक़ाबला पलट दिया। रोहित सांगवान ने 13 रेड अंक के साथ सर्वश्रेष्ठ खिलाड़ी का पुरस्कार जीता; वॉरियर्स की टैकल सफलता दर 62 प्रतिशत रही। यह वॉरियर्स का पहला खिताब है।
Veergarh Warriors won their first National Kabaddi League (NKL) title on Sunday night, beating Patna Panthers 38-31 in the final at the Indira Indoor Stadium. Trailing by six points at one stage in the first half, the Warriors outscored their opponents 22-10 after the break to completely flip the contest. The Panthers led 21-16 at half-time, but both their raiding and their defence fell apart in the final twenty minutes.
First half: Panthers in control
The Panthers opened with aggressive raiding. Captain Mohit Chahal picked up two points on the very first raid and his side led 5-2 by the fifth minute. In the eighth minute the Warriors' defenders missed two tackles in quick succession, and Niraj Yadav cashed in with a three-point raid to make it 12-6. The Warriors' biggest problem was left corner Sunil Bairwa, who managed only one successful tackle in the entire first half; Niraj kept raiding into that channel and the cover slowly fell apart.
In the thirteenth minute the Warriors suffered their first all out. By then the Panthers led 18-11 and looked in control. Just before half-time Rohit Sangwan pulled two points back with a two-point raid to take his side to 16. At that stage it seemed the Panthers would press home the all-out advantage early in the second half and close the match out.
The captain's time-out and a change of plan
Before the second half, Warriors captain Vikram Singh Rathore gave his team a clear instruction: no rushing the raids, and the left corner had to be pulled in tighter. The effect was immediate. In the first five minutes after the break the Warriors picked up three tackle points to make it 19-21. In the sixth minute Sunil Bairwa caught Niraj Yadav with a dash, and on the very next raid Rohit Sangwan took two points to level the scores. That one adjustment neutralised the Panthers' entire raiding plan — their main raider could no longer score in the channel he had been exploiting so easily.
Second half: from 27-27 to 38-31
In the eighth minute the Panthers were all out and the Warriors moved to 27-22. But the Panthers did not fold. A two-point raid from Niraj Yadav and a tackle from Ravi Shankar helped them take five unanswered points and level at 27-27. From there the match became one-sided. Over the last ten minutes the Warriors outscored them 11-4. Rohit Sangwan took five points from three raids in that stretch, while Aakash Meena made two crucial tackles from right cover. By the final minute only formalities remained, and the Warriors bench had already started celebrating before the last whistle.
The raiding story in numbers
Rohit Sangwan was named best player of the match with 13 raid points. His success rate was 58 per cent, and he scored on five of seven do-or-die raids. Supporting raider Amit Dhul added six points, including two decisive raids in the second half. Deepak Nain chipped in with two. Overall the Warriors scored 21 raid points to the Panthers' 17. For the Panthers, Niraj Yadav scored 11, Sahil Qureshi four and captain Mohit Chahal two. Notably, the Panthers scored on roughly every third raid in the first half; after the break that fell to roughly every fifth raid.
Defence won it
The real difference was on defence. The Warriors picked up 13 tackle points at a 62 per cent success rate. Sunil Bairwa made five, Vikram Singh Rathore four and Aakash Meena two, with one super tackle. The Panthers, by contrast, had a 48 per cent tackle success rate and took only two points from a super tackle. The errors the Warriors' defenders were making in the first half — turning late at corner and standing too high in cover — were fixed after the break.
Where it slipped for the Panthers
The biggest cause of the Panthers' defeat was their failure across three consecutive raids after the all out. They took just one point from those three raids and handed the Warriors the momentum. The second error was their use of time-outs: captain Mohit Chahal called his second when his side had already scored five points to level at 27-27 and had built rhythm. They managed only four more points after that.
Reaction and the lesson of the season
The Warriors' coach credited the defence and said only one change was made at half-time — reducing the depth of the corners. Captain Vikram Singh Rathore said the team had relied all season on the belief that even if the raiders did not score heavily, the defence could bring the match back. For the Panthers, this was a second consecutive final lost. Season statistics show that teams with a tackle success rate above 55 per cent won 70 per cent of their matches this season.
Kabaddi's expanding reach
This final once again showed that a kabaddi match can turn entirely within one half. A lead of eight points can be erased by three tackles after the break, and that is precisely why the league's audience keeps growing. According to the organisers, average attendance at this season's playoff matches was better than last year. The message for teams is clear: a strong raider alone does not win titles — defensive depth and the ability to change tactics at half-time are what decide them.