PKL 9: Confident Parteek Dahiya, Gujarat Giants eye victory in final league game vs Pink Panthers

Hyderabad: With young raider Parteek Dahiya as the driving force, Gujarat Giants are on a late surge in form during the business end of the Season 9 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), which has helped resurrect the Gujarat Giants’ campaign.

Riding on a four-match winning streak in the ongoing Hyderabad leg, the Giants are in with a chance to sneak into the top 6 and book their flights for Mumbai for the playoffs. For that, they will have to win their final league stage game against Jaipur Pink Panthers.

Parteek Dahiya, who has been raking in the points having registered 10 Super 10s in the tournament so far. Parteek, who scored 17 points in the Giants’ win against Telugu Titans, is also among the top-10 raiders in the league, with 166 points to his name.

Speaking about his form, Parteek said, “This is all because of the way we train under our coach Ram Mehar Singh. He makes us work very hard during our training sessions which helps us perform well on the mat. I am quite sure that if injuries had not affected our team the way they did, we’d have secured qualification for the playoffs.”

Since the win against the Puneri Paltan, a team who have already booked their berth for the next round, the Giants have changed extraordinarily from the team that was in action during the Pune leg of the season.

“Our team is in a very good place right now, and we are playing with a lot of gusto, and the combinations are also working very well for us. We need a few results in our favour and a win against the Jaipur Pink Panthers to qualify for the playoffs. Our confidence is high and the momentum is also on our side,” he was quoted as saying in a release on Thursday.

Parteek, who has been playing with plenty of panache, admitted that the team has a spring in their step after the recent uptick in fortunes.

“Things weren’t going in our favour, our plans weren’t working out the way we wanted to when we had setbacks with injuries. But now all that has changed and there is a very different atmosphere in the camp,” he says.

The ace raider from Sonipat in Haryana dreams of donning the Indian jersey in the future and is confident that his performances for the Adani Gujarat Giants team this season can help achieve that. He also noted that the battles on the mat with more established players, overseas and Indian, have helped improve his game and given him much-needed experience.

“I have spoken to my uncle (Deepak Niwas Hooda) during the season, and he keeps telling me to concentrate on my game so that I can do well. To ensure I can do well, the biggest learning for me is that I must keep my fitness levels high. That’s one of my biggest takeaways from this year,” the 19-year-old said.

The Adani Gujarat Giants play the Jaipur Pink Panthers in their final league stage match on Friday at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium here and hope that lady luck continues to be in their favour. For the Adani Gujarat Giants, extending the winning streak to five games is the need of the hour.

–IANS